I Shouldn't Have Heard That
by Fist-it-Out
Summary: Ever looked at someone and wondered 'What are they thinking' Well don't. Otherwise you'll end up like me. I am Annabeth Chase, and stupid Aphrodite put a stupid spell on my and my best friend, Percy Jackson, so we can now hear every thought each other has. Does it help that I have a huge crush on him? No, it does not. Will this be the craziest adventure we go on? Probably.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So...I didn't get this idea while in the shower. This was actually inspired by another story on this site, called _I Didn't Need to Hear That_ by _dnapolymerase314_. Check it out! Anywho, on with the story. **

**So this story is when they're sixteen but still after the events of Heroes of Olympus except with the whole Percabeth stuff...just yet. Enjoy!**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

Today started off very strange. For the past sixteen years of my life, I have woken up at exactly 7 am sharp, right when the the minute hand and the second hand hit the twelve and the hour hand is on the seven. I change out of my pajamas and into a pair of running shoes and clothes, heading down to the beach.

I ran the length of the beach four times, totaling in five and a half miles, before heading to the trees. I wasn't going to see any tree spirits, I was just going to stay for a few minutes to creepily watch Percy swimming. It's not as weird as it sounds. I just watch my best friend and crush swim in the ocean for twenty minutes every morning.

After my creepy fangirling, I head back to my cabin, taking my clothes for the day and heading to the showers. After fifteen minutes in the shower and two minutes brushing my teeth (it's easier to brush before eating), then head back to my cabin and put my clothes away. I fixed my hair in the mirror, tying it in a ponytail on top of my head. I finished off by straightening out my outfit. It was a Captain America tee shirt Percy had gotten for me, a pair of khaki short shorts that Drew from the Aphrodite cabin gave to me, and black and white low top converse.

By now it's 8:20 am, so I head over to the dining pavilion, where I get in line behind Percy. "Good morning," Percy said. "How was your run?"

"Good, how was your swim?" I asked.

"Refreshing," he said. "Ooh, pancakes."

"Mortal food? That's never good," I said to myself as I loaded up on pancakes.

"I've been at camp here for five years, I still don't understand why that's not good," Percy said.

"We need to eat food that won't turn us into couch potato fatasses," I said, making him snort.

"You're so rude to people, you act like you're above them," he said.

"I'm above you," I stated.

"In your dreams," he said.

"In both," I said, causing him to smirk at me.

"You dream about me?" he asked.

I felt the blood rush to my face as I stammered over my words, "Wah-wah-no-I-I-I—" Percy put his index finger over my lips and I crossed my eyes to look at it.

"You're cute when you ramble," he said, giving me a smile. I furrowed my brows and snapped my mouth on his finger, sinking my teeth into it. He shrieked, pulling his hand back.

"Don't call me cute," I snapped, even though I was secretly loving it.

"You savor tooth tiger," Percy exclaimed, holding his finger.

"Come on, we're holding up the line," I said, pulling him to the fire. We gave or offerings, then went our separate ways.

A few minutes into breakfast, Chiron and everyone's favorite camper, Harley (son of Hephaestus) took to the center, calling our attention. Harley is super adorable, even though he's really buff for an eight year old. He has curly brown hair and shiny blue eyes. "As you all are aware, tonight will begin the Cross Country Sacvenger Hunt."

"You guys are playing a giant version of a scavenger hunt, all over America!" Harley exclaimed. "You get one teammate from a different cabin, and you get to go all over America to figure out the clues the Olympians are gonna give you."

"You have to be fifteen and older," Chiron added.

"But if you're not you get to make obstacles with the help of the satyrs and harpies," Harley said. "It's gonna be awesome!"

I have to admit, Harley made this sound fun. But there's always something my stupid amazingly smart brain uncovers. "The gods are giving us clues?" I asked.

"And they get to think of anything?" my half-brother, Malcolm asked.

"They have rules for the clues they make as well," Chiron assured us. "Now, on to team pickings. Cabin 1 gets to pick first."

All eyes landed on Jason. He looked around at us, his eyes landing at the Aphrodite table. He smirked, then said, "Piper."

"Ms. McLean and Mr. Grace, you are allowed the rest of the day off until sunset, where you will join us at the Athena Parthenon." Chiron said. Jason and Piper got up and headed out, meeting at the exit. "Percy?" Chiron said.

I focused my attention on Percy, who had his thinking expression on. He tapped his chin with his finger, then looking at the bite mark on his finger. He twisted his face from think to anger to proud, then said, "Annabeth." Of course he picked me.

I got up and or my dishes away, then waited for Percy at the exit. We started heading to the beach, cause we always make plans at the beach. We went to the pier, sitting with or legs hanging over the edge. "So, Wise Girl, could you break down this game for me cause Harley talks way to fast," Percy said.

"From my understanding, it's just a really big scavenger hunt where the clues are given by the twelve Olympians and the boundaries are the borders of America." I said.

"Does that include Alaska and Hawaii?" Percy asked. "And the US territories like the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and Guam?"

"I don't think so," I said. "It'd be pretty difficult to get there." I said, making him chuckle lightly.

"So, if the Olympians are making the clues, we should start thinking about what they might give us," Percy said.

"So there's Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Dionysus." I listed.

"What about Hestia and Hades? Do they count as Olympians?" Percy asked.

"Well Hades is an unofficial Olympian, and Hestia—"

"I'd count Hestia, I consider her the Last Olmypian," Percy said. "We gave her our hope."

"Stop freaking out on me, I know, I was there," I said. "It's if Chiron and Harley consider them. Let's just focus on the ones we know for sure."

"Well Aphrodite's is definitely gonna shave something to do with life and junk," Percy said.

"Ding ding ding," Aphrodite said, appearing in front of us. "You two look so cute together."

I immediately blushed, looking down at my sneakers. "Don't worry, I won't tell Athena and Poseidon about this. Now, I have to warn you, this challenge is gonna be really hard. Ares has been telling me about his plans and what not. But all's fair in love and war. Get it? I'm love and he's war. It's funny."

Percy gave her a half hearted laugh. "Any who, us gods have decided to give you a pre-game obstacle. I got you two. So, enjoy."

I gave her a confused look, and hen she sprayed us with perfume. It was thick and smelt awful, and when it cleared she was gone.

 **Gods I hate the smell of perfume.**

Okay, that is true but I didn't think that.

 **Great, now I can't even smell the sea. Just that stupid flowery smell.**

That was definitely not me. I mean, I don't mind the smell of the sea, since that's how Percy smells, but it's not my favorite.

Percy looked at me, a look of horror on his face.

 _Why does he look so freaked out?_

 **Why can I hear you in my head?**

My eyes practically budged it of my head. _Percy?_

 **Annabeth?**

I was so freaked it I might had slipped off the pier and into the water.


	2. Chapter 2

When I was a kid, I lived in Virginia. You only got to swim when you were on a team, which I was not. And any time I was in the water, I was with Percy. So maybe I don't know how to swim. It's not that sad. It's really sad. I was flapping around in the water, screaming for some help cause I _really_ didn't want to die this way.

There was a splash somewhere near me, then I felt strong arms holding me steady. I was turned around and facing Percy, who was claiming me down. "It's okay, I've got you," Percy said. **Oh my gods, Annabeth can't swim**.

I wrapped my arms around Percy, hugging him tightly. **Now she's hugging me, don't freak out, don't freak out**. I didn't care about all things he was thinking. I started crying. "Ssh, it's okay. It's okay, you're fine. I've got you." Percy said in a soothing voice.

After a few more minutes, he hoisted me back onto the pier, then pulled himself up next to me. **Annabeth, can you still hear me?** I nodded. **I'm gonna dry you off, okay?** He raised his hand to my cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb. I watched as his eyes closed, concentrating hard as I started to dry off.

"You okay?" Percy asked.

"I'm fine," I said in a small voice.

"I can hear your thoughts, remember?" Percy said.

"Okay I'm not fine," I said, shivering even though I was dry.

"I didn't know you couldn't swim," Percy said.

"Usually when I'm in water there's someone who's manipulating the water so we both stay afloat." I said, making him chuckle.

"So, when can hear each other's thoughts," Percy said. **Dear gods I can hear Annabeth Chase's thoughts**.

 _This is bad. We should go to Chiron._

 **And I won't mention anything about you falling in.**

 _I will murder you, Jackson._

 **Let's just go.**

We got up and walk in silence. Well, we didn't talk. All I could hear were Percy's crazy thoughts. **I'm worried about this challenge.**

 **Lol, Annabeth can't swim.**

 **Shut up Percy, you can't do lots of things that she can.**

 **This grass is really overgrown.**

 **Would this count as an awkward silence?**

 **At least I can swim.**

 **Yeah but she's smart and you just have a Seaweed Brain.**

 **That's a cute nickname.**

 **Annabeth is so creative.**

 **She's so smart.**

 **Man, her ponytail messed up in the water.**

 **Her hair is so blonde.**

 **I love her eyes.**

 **Look at those shorts.**

 **How far is this place?**

 **I wonder how Mom's doing?**

 **That cloud is nice.**

 **I can't believe Annabeth was hugging me. Her arms are so soft.**

 **But she was crying. I felt so bad.**

 **I never wanna see her so freaked out again.**

 **Right after we come back from this, I'll teach her to swim. It'll be less likely for her to drown.**

"We're here," I announced.

 **That voice.**

"Let's go," I said, pulling him inside.

"Why is your grip so damn tight?" Percy said, trudging behind me.

"Why were you checking out my shorts?" I asked. "So many unanswered questions."

Chiron was going over a map with a few of the younger campers. _Probably going over the obstacles._

 **Who's gonna interrupt? You or me?**

 _You, duh._

 **Groans**.

"Chiron, can we talk to you for a second?" Percy asked, getting Chiron's attention.

"Of course," Chiron said, trotting alongside us to the porch.

 **His hooves are so loud and annoying.**

 _I'm with you on that._

"So, Chiron, we have an issue," Percy started.

"I can hear his thoughts and vise versa, now tell us what to do," I summed up.

"It was Aphrodite and she said that it was some sort of obstacle," Percy said, shrugging.

"And he thinks about everything!" I exclaimed in frustration. "And I'd rather not hear about what he thinks of me." Even though I kinda did.

 **I can hear you.**

 _Damnit_.

 **Language**.

 _Shut up._

 **I'm not talking.**

 _Clearly you aren't think either._

 **Chiron's talking, shush.**

 _Eye roll._

"...nothing to do but deal with it until the end of the challenge. Although, I might be able to block the subconscious thoughts. If it was just her intention to have you hear each other's thoughts, that is." Chiron said.

"Ok, thank you," I said.

 **Those party ponies were crazy.**

 **That nail is loose.**

 **I wonder how long this place has been here.**

 **Annabeth's wearing the shirt I got her.**

 **What're we talking about?**

 **It'd be so cool if Chiron just started galloping out of nowhere.**

And then it all stopped. Instead of all those overlapping voices of randomness, t was just one voice. **Annabeth, can you still hear me?**

 _Loud and clear. Why does your mind wander so much?_

 **I could say the same about you.**

 _Let's just go. And don't forget to thank Chiron._

 **Don't tell me what to do.**

"Thanks Chiron," Percy said, then turned to leave. I followed him, a smirk on my face.

"I was being polite," Percy explained.

"Yea, right," I said.

"Whatever, let's just go back to trying to plan for this thing," Percy said.

"You have a car, right?" I asked, and he nodded. "So since this is a challenge across the whole country, we're gonna need it. And we can take turns—"

"No way are you driving my precious," Percy said, interrupting me.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You don't have a license, I just got that car, she's very special, did I mention you don't have a license?"

"I have a permit," I said.

"You aren't driving my car," Percy stated. "It was a gift from my dad. It's a Maserati Spyder. It's red! And Dad said if it gets ruined or totaled that I don't get a new one. You of all people should know how badly I've wanted a Maserati Spyder."

"Okay, fine," I said. And then I saw a bunch of kids in the snow, along with a few older girls.

 _"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" I asked. That wasn't my voice. And I don't remember this._

" _For my brother. Yes."_

 _I didn't want to be rude. I mean, I knew the legends about Apollo—or sometimes Helios—driving a big sun chariot across the sky. But I also knew that the sun was really a star about a zillion miles away. I'd gotten used to some of the Greek myths being true, but still... I didn't see how Apollo could drive the sun._

 _"It's not exactly as you think," Artemis said, like she was reading my mind. "Oh, okay." I started to relax. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a—" There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth. "Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks."_

Parks? 

_I averted my eyes, and saw that the other kids were doing the same. The light and warmth intensified until my winter coat felt like it was melting off of me. Then suddenly the light died._

 _I looked. And I couldn't believe it. It was my car. Well, the car I wanted, anyway. A red convertible Maserati Spyder. It was so awesome it glowed. Then I realized it was glowing because the metal was hot. The snow had melted around the Maserati in a perfect circle, which explained why I was now standing on green grass and my shoes were wet. _

_The driver got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, and for a second, I had the uneasy feeling it was Luke, my old enemy. This guy had the same sandy hair and outdoorsy good looks. But it wasn't Luke. This guy was taller, with no scar on his face like Luke's. His smile was brighter and more playful. (Luke didn't do much more than scowl and sneer these days.) The Maserati driver wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt._

 _"Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."_

 _"He's the sun god," I said._

I screamed, falling on my butt. "Percy," I said, looking up at him.

 **Why does she keep freaking out?**

"I think I can see your memories too," I said, causing him to pale.


	3. Chapter 3

What's worse than hearing your best friend's thoughts? Being able to see the memories connected to something they said. There's no way we'd be able to concentrate on the game if we keep having moments where we freak out because he can see the memories connected to my statements and vise versa.

Now, I should be focusing on that, but, I'm more focused on the fact that Thalia Grace said Apollo was hot. And Percy and his dumb self thought she meant temperature wise. Boys.

 **I am a man, Annabeth.**

 _Stay out of my head._

 **I'll try.**

Percy sat down in the grass next to me, putting his head in his hands. **Dear gods, she can hear my thoughts, see my memories, it won't be long before she finds out—**

"Why are you guys just sitting in the grass?" Piper asked, coming over with Jason behind her. _Damnit, I wanna know what I don't._

"Hey, did one of he gods give you guys an obstacle?" I asked.

"Apollo cursed Jason to speak in haikus for the entire game, so I'm just having him not speak," Piper said. "What about you guys?"

"Aphrodite cursed us so we can hear each other's thoughts and see each other's memories." Percy explained. "Not very fun. Annabeth mostly thinks about math and problem solving and nerdy stuff."

"Percy and Annabeth,

"hearing thoughts that are not theirs,

"definitely screwed." Jason said.

"Oh boy, they're worse than Apollo's," I said, laughing lightly.

"My haikus are fire," Apollo said, appearing in front of us. "But blondie's right, if I had to hear someone else's thoughts over my amazing thoughts all day everyday I'd die. I think I might make a haiku about it.

"Aphrodite thinks

"her curses are so unique

"better not curse me.

"How was that, Chase?"

"Amazing," I lied. _Gods that was just terrible._

 **It was so bad. I wanna forget that.**

 _Who let him go to Japan anyway? He's making me hate haikus._

 **How do you even spell that? Wise Girl?**

 _Don't call that and it's H-A-I-_

 **I lost interest. I think they're trying to talk to us.**

"They're having a brain conversation," Piper said.

"Where'd Apollo go?" I asked.

"He left," Piper said. "Laters, let's go Jason."

"Come on, let's get up," Percy said, jumping up. "We could go back to the beach, or maybe walk through the woods."

"The beach is good, just—" I started, but he took my hand in his, pulling me off the ground and starting to walk towards the beach.

"You don't have to say it, I know," he said.

He was holding my hand. It's not like he hasn't held my hand but never for this long. Dear gods, he can still hear my thoughts. I probably sound like one of those stupid Aphrodite girls, not including Piper cause she's awesome.

 **She hasn't done anything. Maybe she hasn't noticed. If she doesn't mind then why should I? I'm just holding her hand. It's just a simple act. But it's something people do to show affection. Gods, if she—**

"Annabeth!" Malcolm called, making Percy drop his hand. Perfect. Just great.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Mom is here, she wants to talk to you," Malcolm said. "She's heading this way so lose the fish."

"I'll meet you at the dock," Percy said, then jogged off.

I redid my ponytail do it could be neat, then watched as Athena walked over to Malcolm and I. She looked at me up and down, scowling. Oh boy. "Where'd you get that monstrosity of a shirt from?" she asked in a disgusted tone.

I love this shirt. Percy gave it to me for my birthday and then showed me every avenger movie and told me what he loved about them and I told him about all the set building and stuff.

"It was a gift," I said quietly.

"I hope you got a receipt," she said.

"I actually like it, Mother," I said.

"We'll never the matter, we'll discuss your choices of friends who give horrid gifts another time." Athena said. "Now, I must know; who's your partner for the games?"

"Percy," I said, looking down at me shoes.

 **She sounds ashamed. Am I no good?**

Athena made a disgusted face. "That no good son of Poseidon." she muttered. "Why him? Why couldn't you pick someone, any one else?"

"First, he picked me," I said. "Second, he's my best friend and we work way better together than when we're on separate teams."

 **Gods Athena's gonna murder me with owls for picking Annabeth. I should've listened to Chiron and picked someone else like Leo or Frank or something. Stupid seaweed brain.**

"Listen, I've got to go," I said. "Percy and I were brainstorming some strategies for the game and if hate to keep him waiting."

Before either of them could respond, I jogged off toward the beach. I was gonna be in so much trouble for that, but I really hate it when my Mom hates on Percy just because he's Poseidon's son. That's not very fair. That like a form of racism, except with divine parentage. And I am big on the unjustness of racism.

I got to the dock, seeing Percy sitting over the edge and looking down at the water. **Don't give me love advice! You're just a horse.** And then I heard another voice.

 _ **I am a Pegasus, Lord.**_

And then, yet again, I fell in the water. What? I was in shock. There was a brief second when I heard Percy scream my name, before I went back under. There was commotion and splashing. Great, now more people would know I can't swim. Once again, I was wrapped in a strong hug from Percy, the waves around me stilling. "Ssh, Annabeth, stop screaming." Percy whispered.

"Annabeth?" shucks, it was Athena. "Annabeth what are you doing with him? Like that?"

"I thought it'd be funny if I had the water grab her and have it keep trying to drown her, but now I'm gonna face her wrath after nearly drowning her." Percy lied.

 **Go along with it, pretend to be mad.**

I managed to twist my relieved look into a scowl, punching his shoulder. "You big Seaweed Brain, I could've died!" I exclaimed. "Trying to kill me."

 **I'll mess with the water so it looks like you're swimming, just to get you back to the dock.**

 _Okay._

It was like the water grabbed my arms, and then began moving them in sync with my legs, which were kicking. I hoisted myself up and onto the wood, and saw that Athena was there, scolding us. Jason, Piper, Nico, Grover, Harley, and Chiron were also there, and I just felt so embarrassed.

"Sorry Annabeth," Percy said, sitting next to me.

"Because I am a nice person, you are forgiven, but you'd better not do that again," I said.

"Very well then, no more stunts like that," Chiron said. "Well children, dissipate."

"Remember what I told you, son of Poseidon," Athena warned, before growing brighter. I looked away as she revealed her divine form, then disappeared. By then, everyone else had left. I relaxed, letting it a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," I said. "I can't believe I keep falling in."

"What happened? You only fall in when you get freaked out," Percy said.

"I could hear your conversation with your Pegasus." I said.

"Oh, you mean Blackjack? I guess since we speak telepathically you'd be able to hear him. Maybe you might even be able to talk to him."

"Maybe." I said. "Could you–um?"

"Yea, sure," he said.

He touched my cheek, but instead of closing his eyes, he stared into mine. "You have pretty eyes." I couldn't help but blush, looking away.

"Thanks," I said quietly, feeling myself becoming dry.

"Look, it's already mid-day," Percy said, looking up at the sky. "Let's get some training done." I nodded, getting up. "I think today I might win."

"Why? Have you been probing my brain?" I asked.

"Maybe," he said. "Let's go." He got up and we headed to the sword training arena. We went to our respective sides, and intruded to focuse on my warm ups and not Percy's thoughts.

I put on some armor, swinging my Drakon Bone sword around before turning to Percy, who was waiting in the center. When I looked at him, I was glad we weren't near water cause I was in shock.


	4. Chapter 4

He was shirtless. Percy Jackson was standing there, waiting for me, without a shirt. And boy, he looked hot. I knew he was all lean and fit cause he trains constantly and is an amazing swimmer, but he just has these washboard abs (I'm counting them, there's six-no eight) that are making me wanna drool.

"You are drooling," Percy said. Damnit, I forgot he could hear my thoughts.

 **No cursing, beautiful.**

"You're staring," Percy pointed out. "And still drooling. My eyes are up here."

I slowly brought my gaze up to eyes, and he was laughing. And then I did something I never thought I'd do: I started tracing the muscles and lines of his chest. Gods, he was perfect.

"Annabeth? Are you in there?" Percy asked. I stared mindlessly at his core. What? If seen Percy many times clothed and now, here he was, shirtless, and he looked _fucking amazing._ Percy grabbed my hand, bringing me out of my trance.

"Hmm?" I hummed, looking up at him.

"Annabeth, you've been staring at me for nearly ten minutes," he said. "You've been touching all over me." **And it's making me feel _so_ good.**

"Sorry," I said. "Why are you shirtless?"

"I'm done losing to you," he said. "So, I'm trying another approach. I've been going through your girl brain and seeing what I could do and I'm now doing a physiological attack."

"No fair!" I exclaimed. "You know what, two can play at that game."

"What're you gonna do?" Percy asked.

 _Stop going through my thoughts idiot. And I'll just fight fire with fire._

 **Don't girls have more to hide under their shirts?**

I turned around, pulling off my chest plate then my shirt over my head and growing it to the side. Good thing I wore a very supportive sports bra today. When I turned back around, Percy's mouth hung open and his mind was blank. I smirked, pulling out my sword. He was suddenly I having a million thoughts at once.

 **Holy fucking shit she took of her shirt and her chest is just—she took out her sword—she's gonna kill me—look at her though, she looks amazing!—dear gods I don't know how I'm gonna train with her half naked.**

"Yea, I know how you feel," I said. "Now let's go."

I swung my sword at his head, nearly killing him before he ducked, but not quick enough cause some of his hair fell to the ground. He counter striked with a blew to my shoulder, but I could hear him strategizing so I saw it coming. We swung and blocked for what seemed like forever, not being able to strike cause we could hear each other's plans.

I had an idea, but I ignored it. Percy wasn't gonna find this one out. I thought about he sweat running down his well defined chest, the way his muscles tensed and such when he strikes. And then I didn't block him. His sword cut my cheek, making me shriek. He immediately starts apologizing and getting flustered and embarrass. I concentrate on the blood running down the side of my face as he runs over, cradling my head in his hands.

"Oh my gods, Annabeth, I am so so so sorry," he gushed. "Oh my gods, you're bleeding and it's my fault."

He moved my hands from the cut, where I twists my hands so I grabbed him and flipped him into the ground, making him groan. I grabbed Riptide off the floor and grabbed my sword, rolling over so I was on him, both swords pointing at him.

"You tricked me," he stated.

"No, you actually cut me and I am actually in pain," I said, breathing hard. "I win."

"I think we should get you to the infirmary, you're bleeding pretty bad," Percy said.

He took Riptide from me, capping it and stuffing it in his pants pocket. He then picked me up, which I obviously objected, but he won and grabbed out shirts and started heading to the infirmary.

"Put me down," I protested.

"I feel terrible for cutting you, so I'm carrying you," he stated.

"And if Athena is still here?" I asked.

"I'll drop you on your negative ass," Percy said.

 **Don't worry, I'd never drop you.**

I smiled, kissing his cheek.

 **Damnit. She's smiling all cute and she kissed my cheek.**

There was another memory:

 _"I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice."_

 _Annabeth glared at me like she was going to punch me. And then she did something that surprised me even more. She kissed me._ _"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." She put on her hat and vanished._ _I probably would've sat there for the rest of the day, staring at the lava and trying to remember what my name was, but the sea demons jarred me back to reality._

I blushed, hiding my face in his chest. "You know that doesn't relate to me kissing your cheek," I pointed out.

"This is terrible, all my inner thoughts in your head too," Percy said, opening the door to the infirmary. "Will! Annabeth is bleeding!"

"Why do you only call on me?" Will asked, coming over. "Why are you both shirtless? And sweaty?"

"They were doing naughty things," Nico said. I looked up and saw him sitting in a chair, eating candy.

"We were training," Percy said.

"Why are you always in the infirmary and why do you get candy?" I asked.

"Dr. Will wants to keep a close eye on me, and candy brightens my mood," Nico explained.

 **And they say _we_ were doing naughty things. **

I snorted, earning weird looks from the others. _I sound crazy._

Percy put me down on one of the beds then went to cleaning himself up. Will examined my cheek, then cleaned off the blood. Percy tossed me my shirt while we listened to Nico and Will talk to each other.

"Hey, I heard that all the gods were picking partners and we're giving them obstacles," Percy said while Will stitched up my cheek. "What happened to you guys?"

"Iris cursed us so we couldn't see colors," Nico said, shuddering. "It's not that bad. My life was already dark and gloomy."

"So everything is black and white?" I asked.

"Aren't those colors?" Percy asked.

"No idiot," I said. _White is the presence of no color and black is the absence of light or total color._

 **So then what's gray?**

 _You are such a Seaweed Brain. Look, Will and Nico are trying to talk to us._

"What are you guys doing just staring into space?" Will asked. "Do I have to check your mental sanity?"

"Aphrodite cursed us so we can hear each other's thoughts," I explained.

"So we have mind conversations," Percy finished.

"That's so cute," Will said. "You guys, in love, hearing each other's thoughts."

"In love?" Percy and I asked in unison.

"We are not in love," I stated.

"You guys kiss all the time," Nico said.

"They're friendly kisses," Percy said.

"Yes, sure," Will said.

I rolled my eyes, cause clearly I didn't like Percy like that. And it's not like he liked me like that. Right?


	5. Chapter 5

Later that day, all of Camp Half Blood stood in the Athena Parthenon on Half-Blood Hill. Rachel, who's cave was below us, was there. Grr. Sure, Rachel's my friend. And she's not a threat to me anymore, but I still don't like her that much.

 **Rachel is dope, Annabeth.**

 _Get out of my head!_

 **What do you have against Rachel? Why was she ever a threat?**

 _I'm not telling you. Here comes Chiron._

Basically, what he said was that we'd all have a different clue to start with. Well, most of us since there were more pairs that there were Olympians. We'd all start at Olympus, which is where we'd get our first clue. We didn't even get to pick who started us off, they already had it planned out.

So, when Percy and I got to Olympus, we found the first person was Ares. First things first, Ares _hates_ Percy. We should really stop getting on the bad side of gods. **We really should** _._ "My two least favorite demigods," Ares greeted us. Great, we're already off to a bad start.

"Good evening, Lord Ares," I said politely, making him smirk.

"See Jackson? The girl is polite," Ares said.

"Can we just get our first clue and be on our way?" Percy asked.

"That's not how you ask for something," Ares said. "But, I'll give it to you. The Ares challenge will lead you to the next challenge, which is the Athena challenge. Here it is:

"11ER099/23O:TT21W51IN0/01WS."

Never have I been so confused. I hate being confused. Before I could ask, Percy and I were on the sidewalk outside of the Empire State Building. "I guess we should be on our way," Percy said. "We can go by my place and grab my car while you figure things out."

"We're figuring it out together," I corrected as we started walking.

"Yea whatever," he said as he started guiding us back to where he, his mom and Mr. Blofis lived. We went straight to the garage, where Percy showed me to his convertible.

"Ms. Chase," he said, opening the passenger door. I got in, and he closed the door and went to his side, jumping over the door and into his seat. I wrote down what Ares had told us, studying it carefully.

Percy pulled out of the garage, driving casually down the streets of Manhattan. He had on sunglasses, and the soft breeze was making his raven colored hair flutter in the wind. "I bet you we'd look like movie stars or something if you let your ponytail out." Percy said.

"No thank you, I don't have a brush to fix it," I said, staring at the paper.

"You aren't gonna stare at that paper all day, are you?" Percy asked.

"Pay attention to the road," I said.

"Chiron told me that we all have access to any hotel in the country," he said.

"Why is that important?" I asked.

"We've had a long day, let's get some rest," he said. "Then we can work on the Ares Challenge tomorrow."

"But what if everyone's already ahead?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I've got the smartest girl in all of camp as my partner, I think we're the farthest ahead," he said. "Plus, I'm the only camper that lived in Manhattan and has a car in New York. We already have our advantage."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Refinery Hotel," he said. "I've always wanted to stay there, and now we can. It's this classy five star hotel."

 _Here comes another memory. Everything was huge. From my perspective, I was looking up at a gigantic building, which was also beautiful. And then I looked up at s tall woman; it was Sally Jackson. "Are we really going there?" a young, childish voice asked._

 _"I'm sorry, Percy, I'm going in, but you're gonna have to wait with the nice receptionist." Sally said. I instantly felt sad._

 _"But Mommy, why can't we stay here for a few days?"_

 _"Maybe in the future, when we have more money," Sally said. "But I promise after the interview we can go get some ice cream."_

 _"Yay!"_

I looked over at Percy, who looked disappointed. He had his hand rested on the armrest. There was a small tear that rolled down his cheek. I reached over and put my hand over his, squeezing it slightly.

"Montauk was the only nice place we could afford to go to," Percy said. "My Mom always did odd jobs at hotels and stuff, and a lot of times I had to stay in a waiting area and wait for her, and see all the people who took advantage of their opportunities."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'll make this stay memorable, I promise."

"One day, in the near future, I'm gonna bring my Mom," Percy said.

"I know you will," I said.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek, making him smile.

Ω

The concierge at the Refinery was very kind, and flirty towards Percy. I don't know which of the gods got us the hookup, but the suite was amazing. Percy spent two or so hours in the shower while I tried to understand what Ares had said.

"You've been staring at the paper for ever, it's giving me a headache," Percy said, sitting down on my bed.

"I don't get it!" I exclaimed.

"Relax," Percy said. "Let's watch a movie."

"Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?" I asked. "What are we watching?"

"Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," Percy said. "It's good, trust me."

And it was good. And a while into it, when the kids were 'TOOT'ing themselves out of the OSS, he boy cracked the uncrackable code. Which is exactly what Percy did. "It's an anagram!" Percy yelled.

"What?" I asked, pausing the movie.

"Look, the kid said drop all the numbers and switch the letters around," Percy said. "Try doing that with the Ares Clue."

I pulled up Word and typed up the thing, except without the numbers. 11ER099/23O:TT21W51IN0/01WS

EROTTWINWS

"Try some spaces, you're the smart one," Percy said.

WIENRS WOTT

"Come on Annabeth, you've got this," Percy said.

"What if it's not an anagram?" I asked in frustration.

"Just try," Percy said.

TWO WIN STER

TWIN TOWERS

"Twin towers!" Percy exclaimed. "That's something."

"What?" I asked.

"Some of those numbers, look," he said. "9/11/2001:. That's—"

"9/11," I said. "Twin towers. But that wasn't a war."

"An attack and a war are close enough," Percy said. "Look. Ares gave us an anagram."

"World Trade Center," I said. "Those are in New York."

 _But the whole thing wasn't just based in New York. There was the Pentagon and plane that crashed._

 **Let's focus on what we need to do. There's a 9/11 memorial not to far away, but it's closed by now.**

 _We could go in the morning._

 **Let's finish the movie!**

 _I'm tired. I need sleep._

 **Let's finish the movie, okay? Please?**

 _Fine_.

I never did finish the movie, because I fell asleep!


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up in the arms of Percy. He was sound asleep, and didn't wake up until I started freaking out. I nearly screamed and pushed him off of my bed. **Oh my freaking gods, I wake up on the floor. Not a good start to my day.**

"Why were you on my bed?" I asked.

"We were watching a movie," Percy said, rubbing his arm where he had fallen. "I was trying to finish watching and you fell asleep on my arm. And then I dozed off too, I guess."

"Get up, we're leaving," I said. I turned on his laptop, seeing it was already nine am. "We're behind. It's already nine o'clock. No time to shower. Get up and go."

 **I just fell on my ass and she's already commanding me around.**

"I can still hear your thoughts," I said, then swung my legs over the side. I slipped on my sneakers and quickly tied them. "Get up, we gotta go."

Percy groaned, then got up, stepping into his sneakers. He took his laptop off of my bed and put it in his bag, then grabbed his keys and headed to the door. I slung my bag over my shoulder, then we left together. Without waiting for him to unlock the car, I jumped over the door and he did the same, then started the car.

"It's not that far from here," Percy said as we started down the road.

"Okay," I said. "What are we gonna be looking for?"

"I'm guessing something about the Twin Towers," Percy said. "Maybe those left over numbers and symbols might help."

I pulled out his laptop and opened it to word. 92351001. "There's a museum, maybe item 92351001 in there might be a big help." I said.

"We're here," Percy said, putting the car in park. We got out, putting our stuff away, then went and got tickets for the museum. "Annabeth, you can't get distracted," Percy said.

"Distracted? I don't get distracted." I huffed.

"We're in a museum, you're a brain kid, this is like your home," Percy said.

"I don't get—would you look at that." Percy grabbed my arm before I could walk away, then held my face in his hands so I was looking at him.

"Annabeth," Percy said knowingly.

"I can't help it, I'm sorry," I said, trying to peel away from him.

"Annabeth, look at me," Percy said. I looked up into his deep, sea green eyes. "You are not going to wander off to look at anything other than what we're looking for, okay?"

"Uh huh," I said mindlessly. He has such pretty eyes.

"Good," Percy said. "Now, there's an section for the Twin Towers, but it's in the back. So we're gonna have to walk through museum. Promise me you won't get distracted."

"Okay," I said. He smiled, then let go of my face. He held my hand as we walked through the museum. I had to stare at my shoes and the floor the whole time so I didn't get distracted.

"Excuse me," a small voice asked. I looked up slightly to see a small girl, probably seven or eight, with curly blonde pigtails. She had worried, bright blue eyes, and fidgeted with her hands. "Can you help me find my Daddy? I got lost."

I looked over at Percy, who was looking at he little girl. **She's so adorable. We've gotta help her.**

 _I thought you said not to get distracted?_

 **But we're not monsters. We have hearts. And look, she's about to cry.**

 _Okay, but we can't stay for too long. We just need to help her and then get out._

"Sure," I told her. She beamed, jumping excitedly. I let go of Percy's hand and took hers as we started walking. "Can you tell us what looks like?" I asked.

"He's tall and muscly," she said as the three of us walked around. "And he always wears sunglasses that are kinda red. And he has short black hair, shorter than yours." She pointed at Percy. "He said he was gonna be at the Twin Towers display, and told me to come stop an adorable couple from finding him."

"Wait, what?" Percy asked.

And then the little girl turned into a bird. A bird! Not just any bird, a vulture. And there were six. This is what happens when I'm nice to strangers.

 **Less thinking more doing. I'll take three you take three.**

 _We can't kill them! They're Ares's sacred animal. We just have to get past them and to the Twin Towers display._

We both dove out of the way, hearing the screams of the mortals. _Meet you at the display!_ I scrambled to my feet and took off running. I was gonna need to defend myself, so I kept my hand on my sword handle. I had to duck and dodge mortals who were running in the opposite direction towards the exit.

I stopped abruptly as a vulture came in front of me. Just as I was about to turn around, two more were behind me. I reached for my sword, but I couldn't get a grip on it. Damnit. The vultures started pecking at me, making me scream.

"Annabeth!" I heard Percy yell. **Damn these stupid vultures! I hope Annabeth is okay. (insert scream)!**

 _Ahh! I can't grip my sword! Percy!_

 **I'm more cursed than you! Ares hates me more than you! Ahh!**

 _They're gonna eat me alive!_

 **Annabeth, you're the smart one! Think of something!**

 _Use your water powers and drown them! Or something!_

 **But I might drown you!**

 _I'll be fine! Just do it!_

In a quick instant, water was rushing around and filling the room. The vultures flew up and away, trying to stay above the water. Meanwhile I was watching the water turn red with my blood as I struggled to breathe. I couldn't even try to move cause my stupid sword had gotten free and was now holding my foot in the ground. Does it sound painful? Yes!

Percy swam over to me, cuts all over him slowly closing. He pulled on my sword and freed it, making me scream out in pain. He dragged me to the top, where we both were gasping for air. "It's okay, it's okay," Percy said, holding me above the water. "Come on, I'll heal you before getting rid of the water."

I nodded, then felt my pain slowly subsiding. After that, all the water was quickly drained. We both fell on the floor, taking deep breaths. I leaned on Percy, closing my eyes and listening to the sound of his heartbeat returning to normal. "Guess what?" Percy said, pulling the hair tie out of my ponytail and running his hands through my hair.

I looked up at him, and he had a goofy smile. "We made it." And sure enough, Ares was leaning against a scale model of the Twin Towers. And next to him, with a scowl, was my mother, Athena.

"I told you the vultures were too much," Athena said.

"They're alive, see," Ares said. "Congrats on figuring it out. I'm impressed."

"Annabeth is on their team," Athena said.

"Actually, Percy figured it out," I said.

"Technically the movie did," Percy said.

"But you pointed it out and forced me to watch the movie," I said.

"Just tell them the Athena Challenge," Ares said. "They make me sick."

"The Athena Challenge will lead you to the Hermes challenge," Athena said. "Here it is: The alphabet is written on post-its."

I think Athena has officially lost it.


	7. Chapter 7

_The alphabet is written on post-its? What does that mean?_

 **Sssh, I'm thinking.**

 _Well, we need to go dry off somewhere. Get to it._

Percy reach over and held my hand, pulling the water from my body. "Now get in the car," Percy said, sitting down in the driver's seat. I got in and went back to thinking, at least until I felt the wind messing up my hair. Then I realized that Percy still had my hair tie.

"You look cute, trust me," Percy said. "With the wind running through your hair."

"It's gonna get knotted," I whined.

"Just focus, what could Athena mean?" Percy said.

 _Post-its. Alphabet._

 **The alphabet is written on post-its. Post-its.**

 _It leads to the Hermes Challenge._

 **THE POST OFFICE!**

 _What? Why?_

 **The Alphabet has letters. And then there's 'Post'…like post-owls from Harry Potter! AND OWLS ARE THE ANIMALS OF ATHENA! And Hermes is the god of Messengers! Where else could it be?**

 _That's freakishly smart. In a weird way. How did you do that?_

 **Don't worry about it. To the Post Office!**

 _That's it! There are hundred's of Post Offices in New York! You aren't as smart as you think._

 **We're going to Bill's, duh.**

 _What?_

 **Its a Post Office by the first automaton you activated.**

 _How do you remember that?_

 **Uh...not important.**

 _Percy._

 **Anyway! To Bill's!**

And then I was seeing a flashback. **It wasn't too long ago, when we were fighting Kronos. I saw me, activating the statue. My view was shifting to behind the statue, to a post office. There was a girl asleep on a desk, with braided brown hair. _She's kinda cute._**

 **"I activated the statue," Annabeth said. **

I glared at Percy. "You only remember because you saw a girl there? And a cute girl?" I asked.

"I'm sorry!" Percy said in defense. "At least I'm getting us there."

"Yea cause you were being a creep," I mumbled.

He rolled his eyes. I looked out at the passing buildings. I couldn't help but think about it. I mean, he only remembered cause he was looking at a cute girl. I guess it was good he remembered, but still.

 **I can't believe her. She's all upset because of a stupid random mortal who was kinda cute. It's not like I even actually talked to her. All I did was look and think she was kinda cute. And now Annabeth is ignoring me. I'm the one that's getting us places. All she's done is be an annoying pain in the ass**.

"I'm being annoying?" I asked, turning to him.

"Yes," he said bitterly. "I'm the one that's actually figuring out the stupid clues."

"Cause of dumb luck and your perverted teenage brain," I snapped.

"It wasn't dumb luck and I wasn't being a pervert," Percy said.

"You were watching a stranger sleep," I pointed out.

"Because I didn't want to watch you activate a stupid statue."

"That stupid statue saved your life."

"I would've been fine, I had the Achilles curse."

"Yea and then you would've died if it weren't for me. I took poison for you!"

"It should've killed you." he mumbled.

"It should've killed me? You'd rather have me dead? Is that what you're saying?" I asked.

"Wai—"

"Forget it, Percy." I said, my tone strained. "I didn't need you to fall into Tartarus with me, I didn't need you to come and play hero with Atlas. I didn't need you to play hero at the beach. I shouldn't have healed you when we were twelve. You should've been killed by that Minotaur so that I'd never have to experience this. I wish you were dead."

I turned away and went back to looking out the window, a few tears rolling down my cheek.

Ω

We got to the post office twenty minutes later. The whole ride was silent. And surely, the girl from the memory was there, sitting at her desk. She was having a conversation with what looked like her boss. He looked up at us and surely it was Hermes.

"My one o'clock is here," Hermes said. "Jenna, hold down the fort while I talk with these two, Kay?"

"Sure thing," the girl, Jenna, said. She glanced up at us and gave Percy a flirtatious wave, making me roll my eyes. We then followed Hermes to the back room, where there was a desk and two chairs. Hermes sat down in his chair behind the desk. "Please, have a seat," Hermes said. I went over to one of the chairs, moving it a little farther away from the other before sitting down.

 **Immature**.

 _Pervert_.

 **Brat**.

 _Idiot_.

"So," Hermes said. "What's with the distance?"

"She's being an annoying immature baby over something stupid that happened so long ago," Percy said.

"I'm being immature? You're the one that thinks I should be dead," I spat.

"Hey now, no fighting in my office," Hermes said.

 ** _Now, it's time for the Hermes Challenge_**. George said.

 ** _You know the Cereal Lady?_** Martha asked.

"Demeter?" I asked.

 **Look who finally said something smart.**

I shot Percy a death glare.

 ** _Well, you know how Hermes is the God of Thieves?_** Martha asked, and we nodded.

 ** _You have to steal a box of cereal from Cereal Lady_**. George said.

"You want us to steal cereal? You do know there's a Walmart around the corner, right?" Percy asked.

 ** _You have to steal her magic box of Lucky Charms, with really magical charms._** Martha said.

"And where can we find this box of cereal?" I asked.

 ** _Cereal Lady's house, Midwest._** George said.

"That's enough clues," Hermes said. "You two, good luck. And, don't get caught up in the little things. You guys have such short lives, don't waist it fighting."

* * *

 **A/N: Dun dun DUN! They just had such a rude fight. I wonder how long I'll pull it out. Probably until the next chapter, seeing they can hear each other's thoughts and all. Lemme know what think.**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	8. Chapter 8

Percy and I sat in complete silence for hours, driving from New York to the Midwest. "Where are we going exactly?" Percy asked.

"I don't know, I'm too stupid to figure it out." I said bitterly.

He rolled his eyes. "We're looking for a place where Demeter might be," I said, thinking out loud. "Lucky Charms is a product of General Mills, which is a cereal company. So their headquarters should be at least close to Demeter's place."

"Are you gonna tell me where that is?" Percy asked.

"What? I'm not too stupid and idiotic to figure it out?"

"You're acting like a stupid teenage girl," Percy said.

"Thank you, cause I really need to be told by you that I'm a teenage girl," I said sarcastically.

"Annabeth," Percy started.

"Don't say my name," I said.

"Fine, just find out where we're going," he said.

"Minnesota," I said. "Specifically Minneapolis." He snorted.

 **She knows this by heart. What a freak.**

I reached over and punched his shoulder hard. He swerved slightly. "Don't call me a freak." I snapped.

 **Fucking bruised my shoulder the evil witch.**

I punched him again, this time in the side. After that, we rode in silence. We drove for eight hours until dark, when we reached Athens, Ohio. We got a hotel and put our stuff away. "I'm hungry," Percy said.

"And I don't give a damn," I said.

"Let's go get food," he said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I said.

"Fine," stay here and starve," Percy said, exiting and slamming the door behind him.

 **Oh my gods I messed up. She hates me now. Why did I have to open my goddamn mouth? I always make things worse. Now there's no chance of her ever—**

I looked up, seeing an Iris-Message waiting for me. That's weird. You'd have to know where I am to be able to call me. Curious, I answered, and was greeting by my mother. "How'd you know where to find me?" I asked.

"Sweetie, you're in Athens," Mom said. "This is _my_ city."

"Well, how are you?" I asked.

"Annabeth, I'm calling to talk to you," she said. "It seems as if you and that son of Poseidon have come to a small disagreement."

"It's nothing," I said. Minus the fact that he wishes I was dead.

"Just don't forget about how much the two of you accomplish together. Don't let something so small come between you two." she said. "I must be going now. Remember what I said."

 **Annabeth, you want me to bring you something?**

 _No_.

 **Fine. Whatever.**

 **She's so annoying. She's so—she's so full of herself!**

 **Its that stupid hubris.**

 **Can't believe she wishes I'm dead.**

 **Great, now there's this random chick following me.**

 **What the hell type of pick up line is 'I lost my number, can I have yours?' I'm gonna play stupid.**

 **She wasn't even that cute. Compared to Annabeth, she was a pig.**

 _Compared to me?_

 **Fucking shit you scared me!**

 _Why are you comparing people to me?_

 **None of your damn business.**

 _Fucking unbelievable._

I lay down on the bed, sighing in frustration. I couldn't stop thinking about what we were fighting about earlier. He probably thinks I'm just a stupid girl who can't do anything. Just cause he got lucky on a few things. He's so annoying and so-he's so stupid!

I got up, pulling out my sword. I quickly made a dummy out of pillows and blanket and destroyed it in less than five minutes with my sword. "Stupid Percy," I grumbled, tearing through the pillows. "Stupid stupid. Wishes I was dead." I drove my sword into the heart of the pillows, sliding it down as I sank on my knees.

"Stupid jerk!" I yelled. I got up and pulled out my sword, then started swinging it around.

"Annabeth!" I heard Percy yell, making me scream and drop my sword.

"Holy Zeus you nearly killed me!" Percy exclaimed. I turned to look at him, seeing him holding a bag of McDonald's and a drink. "Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm not crying," I stammered. "What's that?"

"I brought you food. You haven't eaten in a few days." he said. "Annabeth, you're crying. What's wrong? What were you doing?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," I said.

"Here, it's a cheeseburger and fries, and ice tea," he said, handing me the bag. "You murdered those pillows."

"Whatever," I said, taking the bag from him.

"I'm going to go take a shower," he said.

"I don't care what you do," I said.

 **This is what I get for being nice.**

 _I don't need your handouts, dumbass._

 **Am I not worthy of Seaweed Brain anymore?**

 _Seaweed Brain is what I used to call my best friend._

 **What so I'm not your best friend anymore?**

 _No. Best friends don't wish each other were dead._

I finished eating, then lay down on my bed. I didn't have any pillows that were torn to shreds. I slowly fell asleep, to tired to even clean up.


	9. Chapter 9

Percy's POV

I woke up around sunrise, seeing Annabeth still sound asleep on her bed. Her hair was sprawled out around her head, and she looked so peaceful. But she hates me cause I messed up. I got up and out of bed, quickly cleaning up Annabeth's mess from last night, then, moving quickly, put our bags in my car. I went back up to the room, seeing Annabeth still asleep.

I mean, I didn't want to wake her. But we needed to get going if we wanted to be in Minneapolis by tonight. We still had at least eight more hours of driving, and it was only five am. I took her key off the dresser, putting it in my pocket along with mine. I then picked her up bridal style and her arms wrapped around my neck, but strangely she was still asleep.

I took her down to the lobby, where I sat her down in a chair. I went back to the desk, returned the keys, then got Annabeth and went back out to the car. I put her down in the chair, covered her in my car blanket for when I live in my car, then buckled her up. I went over to my side, putting the hood up and closing the windows. Annabeth moaned in her sleep, shifting slightly.

I turned on the Mist, which would conceal my car from mortal police officers. I was driving fast, just above ninety mph, but my amazing car had such a quiet engine that I wouldn't bother Annabeth. There was a silent ringing from the monitor, which meant someone (probably my mom) was trying to video chat. I answered, then went back to looking at the road.

"Percy Jackson." I glanced at the screen and saw Chiron, who looked concerned.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

"How are things going? I'm having trouble keeping tabs on you and Annabeth." Chiron said.

"Everything is—" I glanced at Annabeth, who was still asleep and probably still mad at me. "Everything's fine."

"How many challenges have you gone through?" Chiron asked.

"We did the Ares Challenge, the Athena Challenge, and now we're on the Hermes Challenge." I said.

"Good luck and all that jazz." And then he was gone.

I drove in complete silence for five hours before Annabeth woke up. She rubbed her eyes and moved the blanket, looking around. _Where am I? What happened? Why am I so hungry?_

"We're near Chicago," I said. "Good morning sleepyhead."

She rolled her eyes, shifting in her seat. I glanced at her, then pulled into the exit lane. "Now where are we going?" she asked.

"To eat," I said. "Duh. I haven't eaten and neither have you."

"How long have you been driving?"

"About five hours," I said.

"After we eat, I'm driving," she said. "Don't object, I'm driving the Percy-mobile."

"It's not called that," I said. **It's called Annie.**

"Why?" **Damnit, she can still hear my thoughts.**

"No reason," I said quickly. Except I'm always thinking about you and it drives me crazy and I named my car after you.

I'm really hoping she didn't hear that. I've been having crab thoughts like that a lot lately.

"Like what?" Annabeth asked.

"Forget it," I said.

"Of course you wouldn't tell me," Annabeth mumbled.

Ω

When we got to Minneapolis, we quickly found the General Mills Headquarters. Inside, a guy asked if we were part of the Florida group. Sneaking was easy cause we said we were. We looked around for clues, and went an hour without any luck before we finally found it.

I looked up at a sign that said: _Floor –4 to Collection._ in Ancient Greek. I nudged Annabeth, showing her the sign.

 **Negative 4?**

 _Four is Demeter's sacred number dummy._

 **We need an elevator. Where is it?**

 _Look, under the sign is Demeter's symbol._

Sure enough, there was golden sickle with a few sheaves of wheat, Demeter's symbol, under the sign. We ducked out of the group and went over to the sign. Annabeth reached up and tried to push the symbol, but she was too short. **Need some help?**

 _Screw you, Jackson._

I reached over her head and pushed the sign, revealing a hidden door. **What would you do without me?** She rolled her eyes before entering the dark hallway, before she shrieked and there were many thumps heard. "Annabeth!" I exclaimed.

"There are stairs!" Annabeth called from far away, followed by a groan. "And I am very much in pain."

I pulled out Riptide, uncapping it so it gave off a faint glow. I went in, slowly descending the stairs as the door behind me closed. _Dear gods, I think I broke something. It hurts so bad._ She let out another groan.

"Annabeth, I'm coming, okay?" I called out.

 _I don't need your help._ She sounded bitter.

"You just fell down a flight of stairs, you're gonna need some help," I said.

I reached the bottom and saw Annabeth, who was sitting against a wall and cradling her ankle. Her eyes were squeezed shut until I bent down in front of her, where she looked up at me with teary eyes. I stuck Riptide in the ground (which was dirt). "Let me see," I told her.

She shook her head, closing her eyes. "Annabeth, you're hurt. Let me see." I said. Slowly, she let go of her right ankle. I carefully took off her sneaker, then pulled off her sock to see her ankle, which was throbbing and slightly bruising. I touched it and she winced, trying to pull her foot back.

"It's bad?" she asked.

"We're gonna have to find a way to finish this thing without making it worse," I told her.

"Percy," she started.

"Annabeth I'm being serious. I don't want you getting hurt." I said. "Come on." I turned around. "Get on my back."

She got on my back and I stood, taking a moment to adjust to the new weight. _Rude, I am not that heavy._ **Shush, don't interrupt my thoughts.** I then pulled Riptide out of the ground and went to the door, which slid open. Inside was lit by torches, and there were three buttons on the wall:

(1) Slaughter House of Hades

(2) Bedroom

(3) Cereal Heaven

"There's no four?" Annabeth asked.

"This doesn't make sense—"

"Shut up a second. How many flights of stairs were there?" Annabeth asked.

"I wasn't counting," I admitted. "Were you?"

"Yes cause I'm such a freak I count the flight of stairs I fall down," she said sarcastically. **So annoying.**

 _I heard that!_

 **Want me to drop you?**

 _Let's just go to every floor._

 **We should start in Cereal Heaven, only makes sense.**

I reached out and pressed the button, causing the doors the close.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Stats!**

 **Over 3,500 views!**

 **Nearly 50 followers!**

 **Slightly over 20 reviews!**

 **Exactly 20 favorites!**

 **Keep 'em coming!**

 **Love ya!**

 **Also, to the person that said they were gonna steal my Oreos. One, I wish I had Oreos cause I love those! Two, don't mess with my Oreos. I love them. And Hades, man. You're scaring me. I think I might try to update lots before school starts. Anywho...**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

Annabeth's POV

Every cereal you can imagine was there. It was beautiful. Except— "No Lucky Charms," Percy said. There seriously wasn't one box of Lucky Charms? You've got to be kidding me!

"I guess that means we can go to the bedroom or the Hades room," I said.

"Hades room." he said.

"You'd really think Demeter would hide her precious cereal in a room dedicated to the man that forced her daughter to marry him?"

"Fine," Percy grumbled. "But where are we even gonna look?"

"Let's just search the whole bedroom," I suggested.

 **Would now be a good time to mention I've never been in a lady's bedroom?**

"What?" I asked. "You've never been in a lady's room? Not even your mom?"

"She doesn't let me in," he said. "The only room that a girl sleeps in that I've been in is your cabin and the hotel rooms we've been sharing."

"Well, we're here," I said, opening the door. There was a queen-sized bed in one corner with green and light brown sheets. There was a chestnut colored dresser on the other side of the room and a closet door. There was another door leading to the bathroom.

"Let's split up and search. Do you pick bras or tampons?" I asked.

"What?" Percy asked, looking horrified at the prospect of going through the Goddess of Farming's unmentionable female products.

"Bathroom or dresser?" I clarified.

Percy thought for a second, "Bras."

I went over to the bathroom, seeing a neat bathroom filled with organic soaps and shampoos and such. The cabinet had the usual, deodorants and razors, nairs, etcetera. I sighed, then went back to the room. I looked at Percy, who was carefully throwing clothes all over the floor.

 **No way is Demeter a C. If Annabeth is a B then how is Demeter a C? Impossible.**

 **Ugh, lace bras. Disgusting. All those stupid loss threads. Who's she thing to impress?**

 **AAHHH! ITS A THONG! Dear gods I will never unsee that.**

 **Now that's a image I can't get out of my head! Annabeth help!**

 **Oh my gods, she has a picture of her self in a lace set! I don't wanna see that ever (unless maybe it's Annabeth)**

"What?" I asked, making him jump.

"There's-uh-nothing here about cereal," Percy said.

"I can still hear your thoughts," I pointed out.

"How's your ankle?" Percy asked, changing the subject.

"It hurts, but I'll live," I said.

"Yea, no," Percy said. He came over and threw me over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" I exclaimed.

"Shush, what I'd Demeter comes back?" Percy said.

 _It wasn't so bad. I got a view of his firm butt._

 **Same for you.**

And to emphasize, he squeezed one of my butt cheeks. "Don't do that!" I exclaimed, hitting him.

"Look, we're here at the Hades Room," Percy said, putting me on my feet. I stumbled slightly, and a storm of poison covered arrows buzzed through the room. We both dropped down to the ground, laying flat so nothing touched us.

"Wha—"

 _Don't talk. They might be activated by motion._

 **Do you see what I see?**

 _Obviously not._

 **Over there. I think I see the box.**

 _I see it. It looks average though._

 **It's the only box of Lucky Charms in the whole building. So how do we get it?**

 _Use your dumb luck._

 **Kay.**

 _I was—_

Percy stumbled to his feet and ran through the room, ducking and dodging the arrows like a pro. He reached the other side, and was about to grab the box when an arrow cut through his shorts. I saw a few drops of blood trickle down his leg. Crap, I've been cut.

I sighed, then belly crawled over to Percy. I pulled on his legs, knocking him into the ground with the cereal. The arrows stopped and confetti burst through the room. CONGRATS ON COMPLETING THE HERMES AND HERA CHALLEGENE! PLEASE BRING THE CEREAL TO THE NEAREST POST OFFICE!

 _The Hera challenge?_

 **Since when were we going the Hera challenge?**

 _Lets go._

 **I'm poisoned.**

 _I'll drive, I'm good._

 **Fine, but this is the only time you get to drive Annie.**

 _Why Annie?_

 **Come on, let's go.**

Ω

Hermes and Hera were definitely at the post office. We did get weird looks since I was on his back. Percy put me down and we had to lean on a desk for support, since his leg was slightly numb and my ankle was hurt. "Since when were we on the Hera Challenge?" Percy asked.

"What exactly was the Hera challenge?" I asked.

"Well, daughter of Athena," Hera spat bitterly. "The Hera challenge was to simply see your compatibility."

"What?" I asked.

"Annabeth," Percy said in a weak voice. "I think—I think I should lay down. Sleep for a while."

Percy stumbled over to a chair, sinking in. "What happened to him?" Hermes asked.

"He got hit by a poisoned arrow," I said. "So the Hera challenge?"

"I'm the goddess of marriage, good matches. By twisting you and Percy's emotions to make you hate each other, we see the compatibility by how difficult it is to keep you mad."

"So the cereal?" Hermes asked. I handed him he box of Lucky Charms, and he grinned mischievously.

 **Annabeth I'm dying.**

 _It'll be okay, just give me a minute._

"I guess I'll have to give you my blessing, no matter how much I hate you," Hera said. "Rest for a while, Artemis and Apollo will be here to give you the next challenge."

And then they poofed out. I went over to Percy, sitting on the floor next to his chair. "Lemme see your leg." I said. **I don't feel good.** I rolled up his torn shorts, seeing the red cut that was surrounded by green veins and green puss.

"How bad is it?" Percy breathed out. The green veins (which was poison) were slowly spreading throughout his leg.

"Not bad," I lied.

"Don't lie to me Annabeth!" Percy yelled.

"Apollo is coming, maybe he might heal you," I said.

"Might?" Percy asked. He was freaking out.

"Don't worry, just relax," I said.

"Annabeth," he said, taking deep breaths. "If I die, I want you to know that my car. I named it after you."

I was truly honored. "Percy, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever—"

"Yea I know," Percy interrupted. "Tell about it if I live."

"You're gonna be fine, don't overreact," I said.

"What was the Hera challenge?" Percy asked, looking at me.

"To see if we're compatible," I said. _Cause Hera is like Aphrodite and trying to show me my soulmate._

 **Great, Annabeth has a soulmate. I'm gonna die all alone without Annabeth knowing anything. FUCK THE IDIOT WHO THINKS HE'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY ANNABETH! NO ONE WILL EVER BE GOOD ENOUGH AND I WILL DO EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING A HURTING, THREATENING, AND FUCKING SCARING THE SHIT OUT OF HIM CAUSE ANNABETH—**

"Percy," I said, interrupting me. I guess I should tell him.

"Tell me what?" Percy asked.

"Percy, my soulmate is—"

"Why hello my favorite demigods, what an amazing day to not confess love. That can wait for never!" Artemis exclaimed, poofing in with Apollo. I got up.

"Apollo, could you help Percy? He was hit by a poisoned arrow and he's freaking out." I said.

"Why of course, it's my specialty." Apollo said, going over to Percy.

"So, um, the next challenge?" I asked, looking at Artemis.

"Well, it's called the Twin Challenge cause some of you demigods have been using so much of the budget on fancy hotels, so now Apollo and I need to have a double challenge."

Percy cried out in pain. "You've got to make a playlist of six songs for each of us," Apollo said. "And you have to—"

"I wanted to say it," Artemis interrupted.

"Then say it, geez," Apollo said.

"And you have to make sure they relate to our personalities, and you have to do it with a little obstacle from our good friend Austin Lake, of the Apollo cabin."

"And I'd _Single Ladies_ by Beyoncé isn't included, you fail!" Artemis yelled.

"When you finish, bring it to the nearest music store." Apollo said.

"Good luck!" and poof! They were gone.

* * *

 **a/n: Hehehehe! So, if you've got any song suggestions let me know. I already have some ideas, and if yours match mine than AMAZING! WE HAVE THE SAME BRAIN! I can't put all of them in but I'll look into them. So:**

 **song; artist; Artemis/Apollo (who ever it's for)**

 **xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: dear** Cassy daughter of the Moon,

 **I read your review. It touched my heart that I am not the only person who sits around and laughs at what's on their phone. I literally do that all the time and my own family gives me weird looks.**

 **Dear** raNDOM GUesT THAT loVES YOuR STOry,

 **Don't touch my Oreos!**

 **Thank you to everyone that reviews. I might answer to some of them, if I can find them all. It is a lot of work and I'm the Queen of Lazy.**

 **Heres the chapter! (Ps thx for the songs! Lemme know if yours is here)**

 **xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

That night, I found out what the obstacle was. We were staying in a fancy hotel, and Percy went out to go get food. When he came back, he found me coughing on my bed. The evil son of Apollo made me sick! I felt like my insides were trying to kill me. But I guess it would go away once we finished.

"Come on Annabeth, we can do it," Percy said.

"I need to barf," I said, rolling off of bed.

"Not on the floor!" Percy said quickly, pulling me to the bathroom.

Luckily the toilet was close, which is where I threw up. Percy held my hair back and patted my back. As soon as I finished, I sat back against the wall, my head buried in my knees. "I feel like shit," I mumbled.

"Language," Percy joked. I snapped my head up, making him jump. **Dang, what have I done?**

"Shut it Seaweed Brain," I snapped.

At least we're back to the cute nicknames.

"I feel miserable," I whined, leaning on Percy's shoulder.

"Ew, I don't want your sick germs," Percy said. I sure do know how to pick them.

"Pick what?" Percy asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"Tell me about your pain," he said.

"My head hurts, my stomach hurts, my nose is runny, my throat is dry. I feel like I'm dying."

"Doesn't feel so good, does it?" Percy asked. I rolled my eyes, then groaned again.

"Let's make the stupid playlists and be done with it," I said.

"Let's do Apollo first," Percy said, helping me back to the bed.

"I'm dying!" I whined, falling onto the bed. "Tell of my stories! Sing _If I Die Young_ by The Band Perry at my funeral."

"You are not gonna die," Percy said.

"Oh, put _Me Too_ by Meghan Trainor for Apollo," I said, looking up at him.

"I've never heard it," he said.

"It's like _I thank go every day, that I woke up feeling this way_ ," I sang weakly. " _and I can't help loving myself. And I don't need nobody else, noo. If I was you I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too_."

"I'll write it down, and don't sing when your sick anymore," Percy said. "What about _The Greatest Man that Ever Lived_?"

I snorted. "That sounds like Apollo," I said, laughing.

"What about _I'm Sexy and I Know It_ by LMFAO?"

"Should I be curious as to why you know all these songs?" I asked.

"I was in an a Capella group last year," Percy said nonchalantly. _Percy could sing?_

"Yes I can sing! I have many talents," Percy stated. _And I'm Beyoncé._

"Annabeth, I find it offense that you think I can't sing," Percy said. "In fact."

He pulled me off the bed (even though I told him not to) and then he started singing softly. Even more surprising, it was Christina Perri's _A Thousand Years_ , and he was singing like a boy Christina Perri. And then he started ballroom dancing around the room while he sang.

 _ **Heart beats fast  
Colors and promises  
How to be brave?  
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?  
But watching you stand alone,  
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.**_

 _ **One step closer**_

 _ **[Chorus:]  
I have died every day waiting for you  
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more**_

 _ **Time stands still  
Beauty in all she is  
I will be brave  
I will not let anything take away  
What's standing in front of me  
Every breath  
Every hour has come to this**_

 _ **One step closer**_

 _ **[Chorus:]  
I have died every day waiting for you  
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more**_

 _ **And all along I believed I would find you  
Time has brought your heart to me  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more**_

 _ **One step closer  
One step closer**_

 _ **[Chorus:]  
I have died every day waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more**_

 _ **And all along I believed I would find you  
Time has brought your heart to me  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more**_

I giggled as I fell onto my bed. Percy gave me a look, sitting down on his bed. "See, I told you I could sing, and I can dance," he said.

"Alright, you're good," I said. "But did you forget that I'm sick and have a sprained ankle?"

"Shit, did I make it worse?" Percy asked, concerned.

"No, I barely even felt sick," I said asuringly. "I didn't know you knew Christina Perri."

"I needed to know all type of songs for a Capella and choir," Percy said.

"You were in choir too?" I asked.

"Yea, catch up," he said.

"Any other clubs you're in so I don't have to be shocked twenty four seven?" I asked jokingly.

"Poetry, SADD, Marine Life, Ballroom Dancing, Greek, and Swimming," Percy listed.

"Damn, you do a lot," I said. "What's SADD?"

"Students against drunk driving," Percy said. "It's very educational."

"And poetry?" I asked.

" _Being with You_ , from www. lovelimericks .com

You're the one that I've dreamed of for years  
You complete me, and dampen my fears  
When I am with you  
There are no limits to  
The song of the heavenly spheres." Percy said. _I didn't know Percy was so deep._

"Babe, I'm so deep I make the ocean seem shallow," Percy said. "That's a metaphor Annie."

"I know what it is, but how do you know?" I asked.

"Annabeth, my life with mortals isn't just about fighting and all that jazz," he explained. "Get some sleep. I'll work on the Apollo list for a while."

"No, I wanna *sneeze*—" now my sickness wants to show up again.

"Just rest, okay," Percy said, wrapping me in my blanket.

Today I learned some interesting things. Hera still hates me but thinks Percy and I are gonna get married. Percy is deep and very surprising. And he's caring. We weren't really fighting, so I guess we've made up. And Artemis is still upset I didn't chose to be in the Hunters. Time to rest.

Ω

I never even dwelled on the fact that Percy was a dancer. But I guess it's too late, seeing as it's morning. Today I woke up feeling worse than yesterday. I nearly threw up just getting off the bed, and could barely even stay standing cause my ankle felt terrible. That's what I get for freakin dancing with Percy.

Where is Percy?

 **Don't worry, I'm just getting some breakfast. And stay laying down. Don't need you getting more sick.**

 _Fine. I wonder what place we're in._

 **After we finish this, we'll be halfway done. And knowing Piper, she'll probably throttle Jason because he can only speak in fucking haikus, which are super annoying.**

 _Don't judge haikus, a couple are beautiful._

 **Before Apollo ruins them for you.**

 _True_.

 **A haiku, about Annabeth Chase: she's got fierce gray eyes. Personality is bright. Don't mess with my Annie.**

 _Well that was very sweet, but very terrible._

 **Well I made it up on the spot, just got lucky it fit the requirements.**

 _Did you finish the list?_

 **Yep, and I started on Artemis's. Just need your approval, really.**

 _How late did you stay up?_

 **A while, I was watching you sleep.**

 _Creep_.

 **It's payback for watching me sleep when I was twelve.**

 _Don't get me started, Seaweed Brains._

 **Kk Wise Girl. Don't worry, you're cute when you sleep.**

 _Does that mean I'm not cute when I'm awake?_

 **You're—ugh. Here comes another annoying slut trying to hit on me. Time to play stupid.**

I laughed out loud because no one was there to judge, and it was funny. I took a quick nap before Percy came back with some eggs and bacon, which I quickly ate. I looked over the list he had made:

Apollo:

Me Too (Meghan Trainor)

I'm Sexy and I Know It (LMFAO)

Here Comes the Sun (the Beatles)

Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)

The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Weezer)

Uptown Funk (Bruno Mars)

Artemis:

Single Ladies (Beyoncé)

Sit Still, Look Pretty (Daya)

No (Meghan Trainor)

Miss Independent (Kelly Clarkson)

Take a Hint (Victorious Cast)

I Could Be (Naked Brothers Band)

"Percy, how do you know all there songs? They're so random yet perfect," I said. "But man, I gotta say. You listen to the Naked Brothers Band _and_ Victorious?"

"There's nothing wrong with that, now let's go," Percy said. "The sooner we get there, the sooner you're better."

"Let me eat," I said, shoving food in my mouth.

"You can eat in the car," he said, pulled me out the door.

* * *

 **a/n: I am Naked Brothers Band Forever. I just had to sneak in my nbb, I'm sorry. (I ain't sorry) :P. I think I placed it well, don't you? Read and review!**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Dear** annabethisgr8

 **Nah homie, (what's wrong with me) I don't pre write. That might be an issue with why I have so many unfinished stories.**

 **Dear friends,**

 **I update so amazingly fast cause I'm obviously a daughter of Hermes, God of writing (and other junk). Nah nah, I'm playing. I just have so much free time, except today cause I went uniform shopping. :P.**

* * *

The music store has a guy in it, teaching a girl how to play guitar. Correction, it was Apollo teaching Artemis, and Artemis was snapping at him and telling him guitar was stupid. Sibling love. **That's what you call love?** _Yes it is._ **You're so weird.** _Why_ _thank you_. Yes, Percy and I were still having internal arguments. But they weren't angry and genuine, they were just joking.

"Finished already?" Apollo asked, looking up at us. I was on Percy's back again, because I couldn't walk without feeling nausea and my ankle was terrible.

"Yes now heal Annabeth," Percy said.

"Let's see those lists," Artemis said. Percy say me down on the counter, then pulled out his laptop.

"For Apollo," he said, clicking be playlist. Even though they played in a random order, they still were the six songs we choose:

 _Apollo:_

 _Me Too (Meghan Trainor)_

 _I'm Sexy and I Know It (LMFAO)_

 _Here Comes the Sun (the Beatles)_

 _Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)_

 _The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Weezer)_

 _Uptown Funk (Bruno Mars)_

 _Artemis:_

 _Single Ladies (Beyoncé)_

 _Sit Still, Look Pretty (Daya)_

 _No (Meghan Trainor)_

 _Miss Independent (Kelly Clarkson)_

 _Take a Hint (Victorious Cast)_

 _I Could Be (Naked Brothers Band)_

"Percy picked most of them out," I said.

"I'm impressed, I think I might actually listen to music now," Artemis said.

"I'm definitely listening to them," Apollo said.

"Now, you've reached the halfway mark. Go back to your hotel room and wait for further instruction," Artemis said, then they poofed out. **Weird**.

 _I know, bro bro._

 **What the heck? You don't talk like that. Are you feeling better?**

 _Abso-totally._

 **Let's go, crazy.**

 _I thought I was Wise Girl?_

 **Don't worry, babe.**

 _Don't call me that._

 **You know you love it.**

 _I do._

 **I can hear that.**

 _Damnit!_

 **No swearing!**

 _*eye roll*_

Ω

"Congratulations on completing the first half of the Cross Country Scavenger Hunt," a happy, cheerful Chiron said from an Iris message. "Now onto the hard part. The next half will be filled with confusing clues, scary obstacles and maybe even monster attacks. It is required before continuing to enlist the help of two mortals that can see through the Mist. You are currently in first place, directly followed by Nico and Will, and Malcom and Julie. Good luck."

 _Two mortals? And they have to be able to see through the Mist?_

 **Can't your family see through the Mist?**

 _I don't wanna work with any of them!_

 **What about your brothers? Maybe them?**

 _Those ten year old Devils wouldn't help._

 **Then where are we gonna find two mortals that'll believe us? Let's just ask.**

 _Fine_.

 **Yay! We're going to San Diego!**

 _San Francisco, Seaweed Brain._

 **Same shit.**

 _Language!_

 **Humph**.

Ω

Percy is a speed demon. That's the only reason we got from Minneapolis to San Fransisco in less than twelve hours. **At least I got us there!** Stay out of my brain! Anywho, Mathew and Bobby were playing baseball in the front yard. They seemed completely in shock when we pulled up. They than ran over to the car, and Percy and I removed our sunglasses (cause Percy just thinks I need to wear them).

"Annabeth? Is that you?" Bobby asked.

"In a Maserati?" Mathew asked. "How? Why?"

"Gentlemen, meet my precious baby," Percy said, jumping over the door. _He's so extra._

"Mom! Annabeth is here!" Bobby yelled.

"And she brought her _boyfriend_ ," Mathew teased.

"He is not my boyfriend," I protested. Step monster came out of the house, clad in her apron and powder all over her. **Step monster, that's rude**.

 _Are you gonna comment on every thought I have?_

 **Yes**.

 _What if I was thinking about you?_

 **Thinking about how freaking sexy I am? Of course I'd comment**.

 _You are so humble_.

 **Why thank you.**

"Annabeth!" Bobby exclaimed, making me look at them. "You both just zoned out."

"It was freaky," Mathew said.

"We'll explain later," I said, walking up the driveway to he front door. I politely greeted Helen, who was my step mother.

"How'd you guys get here?" Helen asked.

"Percy drove," I said.

"Annabeth, my car is covered in Mist so I can speed and such," Percy told me. **That means that the twins saw it, and can see through the Mist.**

 _Damnit!_

 **Language!**

 _Shut the fuck up!_

"Um..hello? What is going on?" Helen asked.

"Could we stay for dinner?" I asked, ignoring her previous question.

"Sure, I'm sure we'll have space," Helen said.

"Percy! Come play baseball with us!" Bobby yelled.

"Maybe later," Percy called back. **I'm shit at baseball.**

 _Gasp! Something you're bad at._

 **Shut it, Wise Girl.**

 _I'm going to my room._

 **I'll come with.**

 _You will not. No boys in my room._

 **I am not a boy! I'm all man babe.**

I punched him in the arm, hard, making him cry out and rub his arm. "I told you not to call me that." I said, then marched off to my room.

 **Annabeth is mean. But she's still super cute. Nope, she's not cute. More like mega beautiful. Maybe hot? No, not hot. Definitely beautiful. Hmm, beautiful? Hot? Kinda sexy. But scary. Still really beautiful. Especially those eyes. Beautiful works. Ima go with beautiful.**

 _Are you seriously having an internal battle over what adjective to use to describe me?_

 **Damn, I forgot you could hear me.**

 _Don't worry, I guess you're hot._

 **You guess? You were drooling over my abs like last week.**

 _Gods don't remind me, I felt like I was in Elysium._

 **Call me sexy.**

 _No_.

 **Yes**.

 _No_.

 **No**.

 _Yes. Damnit!_

 **That was too easy. You're supposed to be the smart one.**

 _Whatever_.

 **It's time for dinner.**

 _Already? We just got here._

 **It's late.**

I went back out to the dinning room, where the twins were sitting down, Percy was helping Helen set the table, and Dad was sitting in his seat. I went over and sat in my seat and Percy sat next to me. Pause real quick. Let's talk about the twins, who look exactly alike. The have spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes. There.

"Before we begin this lovely meal, Mr. Chase, you have home insurance, right?" Percy asked. "Like the whole nine yards. Fire, flood, disaster."

"Yes, why?" Dad asked.

"I tend to make a mess of things," Percy said. "A really bad mess. Like really really bad."

"He's a demigod of one of the Big Three and tends to draw a lot of attention to himself," I explained. "Not good attention. Bad, bad attention. Like how he was attacked in school and got kicked out of every single school he went to for like seven years straight. And—"

"No need to tell stories, Annabeth," Percy warned, stopping me.

"No, tell us," Bobby said.

"How do you get kicked out of so many schools?" Mathew asked.

"Monsters attacked, he accidentally used his power over water, etcetera." I said. "And the Mist made it seem like it was always his fault."

"What a 'the Mist?'" Mathew asked.

"It's what keeps mortals from seeing what we do, but you guys can see trough it," I said. "Some special mortals can."

"How do you know we can?" Mathew asked.

"Cause Percy's car is covered in Mist so mortal police can't stop us," I said.

"A special gift from the Hephaestus cabin," Percy said.

"You said here was something you needed to explain to us?" Helen asked.

"Um, were kinda playing this game," I started. "It's called the Cross Country Scavenger Hunt."

"It's like a giant scavenger hunt but all over the US and the gods make the clues," Percy said.

"Not all, just the Olympians," I corrected. "And we get obstacles and all that jazz. And one of or obstacles it that we can hear each other's thoughts."

"Curtesy of Aphrodite," Percy said.

"So when we space out, were yelling at each other in our brains," I said.

"That sounds believable," Helen said sarcastically. **Annabeth, don't be rude.**

"Shut up Percy," I said aloud. **Hehe, now you sound crazy.**

 _I will throttle you in your sleep, Kelp Head._

 **Shutting up.**

"Anyway, we've reach the halfway mark of the game," Percy said. "And now we need to assistance of two mortals who can see through the Mist to finish. So we were hoping you would let us borrow Mathew and Bobby."

"We promise to bring them back alive," I added. "And we'll keep them as safe as we can. Although the monsters don't usually attack mortals. The just go after demigods. Mostly Big Three demigods."

"Well, if it helps," Dad said. "Boys?"

"We get to fight monsters!" They exclaimed. I smiled.


	13. Chapter 13

Percy's POV

I slept on the couch, and was woken up in the middle of the night. There was a shrill scream that made me sit up. **Annabeth?** _Percy help!_ I jumped off the couch and ran to her room, where the rest of her family was. "The door's locked," her father said.

"You sure your insurance is good?" I asked, and he nodded. I took a deep breath, pulled out Riptide and uncapped it. "I might just destroy your house," I warned.

I took a few steps back, then threw myself into the door, sending it off the hinges. Inside the room was a herd of spiders, led by a giant scorpion. **Annabeth, where are you?** _Hiding!_ **Stop screaming, where are you hiding?** _Under the bed, duh. Watch out for the spiders!_

I cut a bunch of the spiders into pieces, seeing them turn to dust. **Monster spiders? Why are there so many? Annabeth!** **Help me!** _I'm not about to die, Percy!_ I groaned, cutting spiders up left and right to get to the bed. I rolled under the bed, taking deep breaths. "Are you gonna help me fight?" I asked.

"Nope," she said. "I don't mess with spiders."

"We just have to get to the scorpion, kill it, and then hopefully they'll vaporize since it seems that the scorpion is their leader." I said.

"Strange," she muttered.

"Is there a bathroom close by?" I asked.

"It's a connecting one," she said. "And since you've asked, I'll try and help."

We rolled out from under the bed. I ran towards the scorpion but was thrown back by some missing force. Riptide flew out of my hand as spiders crawled all over me. They were biting and sucking out my blood. I screamed loudly, closing my eyes tight. Now I know why Annabeth has so much childhood torture. _Told you!_ I concentrated on the water in the bathroom, imagining it bursting from the pipes and flooding the bedroom.

 _You're gonna flood my bedroom?_

I felt water pooling at my feet, making me feel stronger. _Must be nice._ Riptide poked my leg and I picked it up, moving through the water to get to the scorpion. I willed the water to bring Annabeth to me, where she had her sword in her hands. **Ready?**

 _Sure._

We both charged forward, driving our swords into the drowning scorpion. It turned to dust, as did the other dying spiders. _Now where are you gonna put the water?_ **Shush**. I pulled Annabeth with me to the doorway, where her family was standing, shocked. "Sorry about the water," I said, willing it to go back to the pipes.

"You guys just—" Mathew didn't even finish.

"Come on, I've got some ambrosia and nectar in my bag," I said, heading back to the living room.

"You're bleeding," Annabeth pointed out.

"Cause of those evil spiders," I muttered. _Now he knows what I grew up with_. "I just don't understand why Arachne hates you so much."

"Percy, did you forget she dragged us into Tartarus? Of all the children of Athena she hates me most," Annabeth said.

"What's a Tartarus? Who's Arachne?" Bobby asked, running up to our side.

"Arachne is like head of spiders, and hates Sheba and takes out her rage on the children of Athena," I said. "She sends her children, the spiders, to attack them. And—"

 _I'm saying it._

"And Tartarus is the darkest, deepest place in the realm of Hades, the Underworld, where the gods send their worst enemies and monsters go to reform." Annabeth said like she was telling a scary story. "Percy and I fell into Tartarus and had to meet our friend, Nico di Angelo son of Hades, and the Doors of Death."

"What's that?" Mathew asked.

"It's like an elevator that connects Tartarus to the mortal world." Annabeth said. "We were falling into Tartarus for nine days. And then we landed in a river, breathed air made of fire, washed up on a riverbank of glass, and after forever we made our way to the Doors of Death. Then we had to seal them or death."

"You are so secretly cool!" Bobby exclaimed. I looked at Annabeth, who, although she had cuts all over and was tired, looked extremely happy that her brothers liked the stories.

"You should tell them about how I single handily saved Olympus from Kronos and Typhon."

She snorted as I went over to my bag. "You did not," Annabeth said. "What actually happened was that you made plans to cover all ways into Manhattan, got the river spirits to drown the boats, I activated the statues, and then I saved your life."

"You saved his life?" Bobby asked.

"Oh yea," Annabeth said. "He had the Achilles' curse which meant he couldn't be harmed anywhere except in a small spot on his back. I didn't know that though, no one did. and this kid was gonna stab Percy and I just had this feeling that he was in danger. So I intercepted the knife, which turned out to be poisoned."

"And she had the missing piece of the prophecy that saved the world," I said, passing Annabeth a square of ambrosia.

The twins were gleaming, and Annabeth looked so happy while she ate little pieces of ambrosia. I loved the glint in her eyes that showed how happy she was. She looked so-so beautiful.

 _Not gonna fight over whether it's beautiful or hot?_

 **Nope, definitely beautiful.**

 _You're being so flirty._

 **I can't help if you are beautiful and I like telling you about it.**

 _Thank you. There's a sink in the kitchen if you wanna heal yourself._

 **Sure. But come with. I wanna try to heal you too.**

"You guys wanna see something cool?" Annabeth asked.

"Yea!" They exclaimed.

The four of us went into the kitchen, where I turned on the sink and let the water fall on my fingers. I closed my eyes as the water moved around my whole body, the cuts were closing and healing. I held Annabeth's hand, where the water went from me and to her.

"Oh my God that's so cool!" Bobby exclaimed when the water dropped to the floor.

"Annabeth, your boyfriend is so cool!" Mathew exclaimed.

"He's not my boyfriend," Annabeth said.

"They're both cool," Bobby corrected.

"We should go back to bed, it's three in the morning," Annabeth said. _Can I stay with you?_

 **Sure. I did kinda flood your room.**

 _Kinda?_

 **Rolls eyes.**

Bobby and Mathew went back to their room and Annabeth and I settled down on the couch bed.

Ω (Annabeth's POV)

The next morning, we woke up at sunrise. Percy and I at least. We started getting ready to go. We only had six more gods to go through: Zeus, Poseidon, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Demeter. **What about Hades and Hestia?** _I guess we aren't including them_. **That sucks.** _I know._ Anywho, We waited on the couch for the twins to finish getting ready.

"Perry Johnson and Annie Bell." Mr. D.

"Hello Mr. D," I said, faking politeness. I gave up long ago on him remembering my name.

"I'm impressed, first place," Mr. D said. "But people are catching up. So here's my challenge. I'm looking for a new, signature taste. Some out there and fresh. So, you've gotta go to Montana. That state makes the lowest amount of wine in the whole country. Make them be like Cali, who makes me the most. You've got two days minus the trip."

 _Poof!_ I looked at Percy, who looked confused. Gotta admit, he looks cute confused. He looks cute making a bunch of expressions. "Does he realize we can't make wine because we can't even buy or taste it since we aren't of legal drinking age?" Percy asked.

"I am the brains of the operation, leave that to me," I said, throwing my bag over my shoulder.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Amazing news. Yesterday, we were grocery shopping and got Oreos! I LOVE OREOS! So, now I can tell you not to touch them. Don't touch my Oreos.**

 **Don't kill me, but my OTP is not Percabeth. Sorry, but I'm Natalina for life. But, if you were to categorize it by books, tv shows, etcetera, then for books it'd be Percabeth. Percabeth for LIFE! (sometimes I question my own sanity)**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

With Percy's disregard for the speed limit, the drive that should've taken a day took ten hours. "Our time starts now," I said, setting the timer for 48 hours. "Any ideas on how to make a new type of wine to please the wine God?"

"Well what's regular wine made of?" Percy asked. Everyone looked at me. **Cause** **you're the smart one.**

"Grapes and alcohol," I said. See, smart one.

"I hate grapes, let's use apples," Bobby said.

"Let's not use fruit," Mathew said. "Something new and different."

"Fish!" Bobby exclaimed, earning a very surprising death glare.

"Nobody touched sea creatures," Percy warned.

"At least while he's around," I said. "Let's go to a hotel and think there."

"Why can't we mess with fish?" Bobby asked me.

"He talks to fish and can feel their emotions," I whispered.

"He sounds crazy," Bobby said.

"He is," I said, earning a playful shove from Percy. _Rude_. **You asked for it.** _Whateves_.

We pulled up in front of a nice, fancy hotel. "You guys can afford this?" Bobby asked.

"We get to stay anywhere we want, it's all paid for," I said as we got out. We got a room with two beds because there were no rooms next to each other available.

 **How're we gonna do this? There are only two beds.**

 _They shared a womb they can share a bed._

 **HAHAHAHAHAHA! Annabeth, that was HILARIOUS. Don't make me laugh like that again, cause now I look like a freak.**

 _What was so funny?_

 **What you said. I'm dead. Wow, I did not know you were so funny.**

 _I wasn't trying to be funny!_

 **But it was. So who gets the other bed?**

 _You can, I'll sleep on the floor._

 **You're the lady, you get the bed.**

 _No_.

 **Yes.**

 _Compromise. Let's just share._

 **You wanna share the bed? With me?**

 _We've slept in smaller spaces._

 **Alright**.

"Okay, you two get that bed, you're sharing," I said.

"Still a sick place," Bobby said, throwing himself on the bed.

"Annabeth! They've got wine in the fridge," Percy called. "Taste test?"

"Percy! You're seventeen, way below the legal drinking age," I scolded.

"No one will know, plus I've hand some white wine with Mr. D a few months ago," Percy said.

"Percy!"

"We need to taste oridinary wine to know what we're gonna do." Percy said, walking over with a bottle of wine. He popped it open, causing a little to drip out. "Just try some."

"No," I said, crossing my arms. Percy walked behind me and held me tightly with one arm.

"Do it if your cool," he said.

"This is how people start drugs, by that stupid sentence," I said, trying to free myself.

His fingers touched a scar on my arm, making me gasp. He put the bottle in my mouth and tipped it up, sending bursting bubbles into my mouth and down my throat. Gotta admit, it did taste good. He pulled the bottle away from me and stood in front of me. "I know you liked it," Percy said. "It was champagne. A type of wine."

"So," I grumbled, turning away from him.

"Can we taste?" Mathew asked.

"No," Percy and I both said. _So I have to taste it but not them?_

 **Yes. Don't worry.**

Percy drunk some of the bottle, then let out a satisfied sigh. _Did you just drink my backwash?_

 **Yep**.

 _Why?_

 **Because I can.**

 _But—_

 **You just wish that I was drinking your spit directly from your mouth than from the bottle**.

 _Ew, no. You're so weird._

 **Thanks babe.**

I punched him in the stomach, making him double over in pain. "Dear gods," Percy breathed out, falling onto the ground. "I don't know what'd hurt more: getting hit in the nuts or that."

"Don't call me babe," I hissed.

"Blueberry!" Mathew yelled. "Blueberry wine."

"Blueberry and banana wine," Bobby corrected.

"That sounds—" I started.

"Delicious," the twins said.

"I was gonna say disgusting," I said.

"It's new, it's out there, exactly what Mr. D wanted," Percy said. _Great, he's not in pain anymore._

 **That sounds evil.**

 _It was._

"Stop having brain conversations," Mathew said.

Ω

Three things to not do in Montana:

1\. Wear shorts and a tank top

2\. Run around talking about how well the new laws are doing (cause the people are armed to the teeth and will kill you)

3\. Be four underaged kids trying to make wine

How to make wine in Montana:

1\. Break into a wine factory

2\. Steal ingredients to make wine

3\. Scare employees out with Greek fire

4\. Lock all doors so mortals can't get in

5\. Dump loads of blueberries and bananas into the machine

6\. Finally bottle the new wine

7\. Crawl through air ducks to break out of wine factory

8\. Find Mr. D at local bar

9\. Break into local bar

10\. Finish the Dionysus challenge.

Finish those ten steps and now you're a wanted felon in Montana and you're waiting in your hotel room for the next challenge. We were actually hiding in North Dakota. Once we settled in, we got a pleasant visit from Poseidon. "Hey Dad," Percy said. "Is it challenge time?"

"That is," Poseidon said. "You've got three days to get to Miami beach, and do something news worthy."

 **What?**

 _Something news worthy? What does that mean?_

 **I guess we gotta be so flawless and amazing that we draw attention to** **ourselves.**

 _I've got an idea._


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Don't touch my Oreos! (grabs Oreos) Mine!**

 **Anywho, now that I've got that covered, hope you love this chapter!**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

A trip that should've taken a day and eight hours took less than 8, because Percy is a speed demon. **Be grateful**. _Stay out of my brain!_ I never got a chance to fully admire Miami last time, by now I was loving it. Especially Downtown with the buildings and artwork.

Typical Athena kid. Always looking at architecture and art.

Shut up.

So we were staying at a beautiful hotel in Miami, the _Fontainebleau_. It was amazing! So upscale and beautiful. The architecture was to die for, the rooms amazing, and Meghan Trainor was having a show that night in the hotel. **Annabeth, your thoughts are boring**. _Shut up!_ Percy and I were in a room and Bobby and Mathew were in the room across the hall.

 **I like sharing with you.**

 _Creep! Leave me alone._

"How are we gonna get on the news?" Bobby asked.

A hologram projection of a scoreboard popped up. There were five boxes on the list. On the bottom was Jason/Piper. Then in fourth was Leo/Drew. In third was Malcolm/Julie. In second was Nico/Will. On top was Percy/me. The image faltered, and our names switch with Nico/Will.

"We're in second?" I exclaimed. "We need to get back in first! I can't believe we let Nico di Angelo, the Ghost King, most socially awkward person ever, pass us! We're like, _the_ dynamic duo of camp. Like Will and Carlton. Like Bert and Ernie. Cory and Shawn. Or Cory and Topanga."

"Annabeth," Percy said, ending my rant.

"Hm?"

"Stop talking," he said.

"Cory and Topanga got married," Bobby pointed out.

"Why are you watching _Boy Meets World_?" I asked.

"I'm not, I'm watching _Girl Meets World_ ," Bobby said.

"On Disney?" Percy asked, and Bobby nodded. "But why?"

"We lost the remote," Mathew said, shrugging.

"We have got to beat those two gay lovers who think they can try to beat me," I snapped.

 **Did she really have to throw in that they're** **gay?**

"Yes!" I yelled.

"He has water powers, right?" Bobby asked.

"Yea," I said.

"We need a sexy lady, a sea animal attack, and a hero," Mathew said.

"I can convince some sharks or something to attack Annabeth," Percy said.

 _Did he call me sexy?_

 **Shit.**

 _Language._

"How do you know that that will attract the news?" I asked.

"When Dad is watching the news there's always a story about someone being attached." Mathew said.

"We need a skimpy, sexy bikini, hot sunglasses, and Percy, make it a something scary like a legit shark." Bobby said.

"Yea yea," Percy said. "Let's go shopping and stop by the beach."

"I'll take one twin with me to the mall you take the other to the beach and we'll meet back here." I said.

"I'm going with Annabeth!" Bobby exclaimed.

"I get to watch him talk to fish," Mathew said.

Ω

You know how most people say don't bring boys shopping for girl stuff? Well that's the exact opposite of how it went with me and Bobby. I have one bathing suit, that I use when I'm at the beach at camp. We don't go to the beach often, obviously. I don't buy things that often.

For some reason, Bobby (and the sales lady, Marsha) knew everything about shopping. Sixteen different bathing suits. None of them were suitable (PUNNY). **Oh** **my gods, Annabeth.** _Stay out of my brain!_ We finally settled on a red two piece. Even though I know Percy will have some type of snarky comment, I'll paint you a picture.

It was basically a tight triangle that cover majority of areola and a little around it, and was held together by a few strings. The bottom piece was a frilly triangle held together by strings again, with the strings being curly and long on the sides.

 **I was not gonna make a comment.**

 _Sure_.

Afterwards, we bought a nice, floral coverup and a pair of sandal wedges, then a big floppy hat and a pair of sunglasses. **Where are you getting this money?** _Piper gave me a credit card a long time ago to buy girly things but I never used it._ When we got to the hotel, Percy and Mathew were already there, talking about some plans.

It was around noon, so we started getting ready. The faster we finished the easier it'd be to crush Nico and Will. "You look like a movie star," Mathew said, snapping a few pictures of me.

"You look amazing," Bobby added.

I looked at Percy, who was gawking at me. His thoughts are all jumbled and random and confusing I can't even figure them out. I guess I did look amazing.

"So here's what's gonna happen," Mathew said. "You're gonna chill in the sand, draw some attention to yourself since you look awesome. Then you're gonna go for a swim. While you're in the water, Percy's gonna be a few yards away. He's gonna summon a few sharks. You're gonna be wearing these headphones so it seems like you can't hear while everyone is running and screaming in fear. The sharks are gonna attack you—"

"They're gonna attack me?" I asked.

"They're gonna nuzzle your leg and give you one bite mark, then they get treats," Mathew said. "That's the deal we made. Percy will be out of the water by then but he'll jump in and make sure the water rejects everyone but him. He'll save you, and bandage you up with his handy first aid kit."

"One problem, I can't swim," I pointed out.

"That's Percy's job," Bobby said. I looked at Percy, who still had his mouth hanging open in awe. I went over and slapped him, bringing him back to reality.

"Wow," is all he said. **Gods she looks indescribable! Unforgettable! I wanna see Annabeth in a bikini everyday.**

"Perv," I said, shaking my head. **Keep your eyes on hers. Don't look down. Even though it's totally not fair that she got to stare at your chest forever** **but.** I couldn't help but blush slightly.

"Let's just go," I said. "We should arrive seperately. So t looks like a Good Samaritan saved me. And I should get to drive your car."

"I will drive until we're close, then you will carefully drive," Percy said. "You do know the basics of driving?"

"Of course. I've had three lessons," I said, grabbing my beach bag.

 **Annabeth, you're nervous.**

 _I'm going to be fake attacked by a bunch of sharks. Of course I'm nervous. Plus I still can't swim so my life is literally in your hands._

 **Do you trust me?**

 _Forever and always._

 **Then know I won't let anything happen to you.**


	16. Chapter 16

Since it was summer, the beach was crowded. Not crowded to a point where you're being forced to rub up on someone. Just not empty or mildly full. My brothers and I easily found a spot, and they went off to go 'play in sand.' As for Percy, I didn't even know if he had made it. **I did. I'm just chilling in the water.** Driving Percy's car was a whole new experience. You wouldn't even know if I only had three lessons. Mainly because Percy manipulated the Mist so it seemed like I could drive.

I lay on the beach towel, pretending to listen to music. Everyone few minutes, some random guy would come and offer to rub sunscreen on me. It was creepy. **It's not dudes' faults that you are a beautiful, sexy California girl with princess curls and sun kissed skin. You could pass for a child of Apollo.** _Thank you._ Me being 'sexy' as Percy says does not excuse guys to try to flirt with me. For all they know I could be lesbian, or be in a relationship. Even though I'm neither.

 **Come for a swim, princess. Just lay on your back in the water, I've got it covered.**

 _If I die today, it's on you._

 **What? You'll tell Hades to switch us?**

 _Yes_.

 **Gulp. Just relax. Be like Jasmine and think of me as Aladdin. Do you trust me?**

 _You watch way to many Disney movies._

I got up, taking off the cover up and hat then going into the water. **Deeper. Go until your neck deep.** I rolled my eyes, slowly moving through the water until I was very deep, where there were a bunch of stupid teens doing stupid things and adults playing with young children. Well, less than it was closer to the shore.

There was a force pushing me on my back and I didn't oblige. Percy is really good with his powers. **Thanks babe.**

 _I will kick you in your nuts._

 **It's nutz.**

 _What?_

 **Nutz. With a 'z.' You said nuts, like peanuts**.

 _You aren't the least bit concerned about me endangering your ability to reproduce?_

 **Nope. I know how much you wanna feel my balls, babe.**

 _This just got really weird._

 **You know it's true.**

 _No it's not. I wanna bruise your baby making machine._

 **OH MY GODS. ANNABETH,** _NEVER_ **REFER TO MY NUTSACK LIKE** **THAT AGAIN.**

 _Hahahahahahaha. You make me laugh._

 **I'm being serious. I don't want to hear you ever say or think that ever again.**

 _Your baby making machine?_

 **LALALALALA! STOP SAYING THAT.**

 _You're so immature._

 **Me? You keep saying that thing! Uck!**

 _How much longer? When do I get to die?_

 **I'm driving people out right now. Just stay put.**

 _You're the one keeping me alive!_

 **Okay. Hey sharks!**

 ** _Its Gretchen and Mali to you._**

 **It's go time. And remember, you can't eat her.**

 ** _Why not? Eating humans is fun!_** Mail whined.

 **Because I said so and you don't wanna make me mad.**

 ** _I think I'll take my chances. I said so isn't the best excuse._** Gretchen said.

 **Well then if you do so then who am I gonna trust my life with? I really love this girl, so don't hurt her. You give her a small bite that'll make her bleed but you can't eat her, got it.**

 ** _Alright boy._** Gretchen said.

Even though I had my headphones in, I could hear the panic as two sharks got under the barrier between the beach and the ocean, people frantically getting out and running away. The water pulled me under, making me scream, but luckily there was an air bubble waiting for me. I could see the Sharks analyzing me.

 ** _Is this the girl?_** Gretchen asked.

 **Yes. I already explained how she looked.** Percy said.

 ** _Blonde, tan, kinda muscly, I guess you can say she's hot._** Mali said.

 **Just pretend to attack her.** Percy said.

 ** _Let her know somehow were gonna bite._** Gretchen said.

I was pushed back to the surface, trashing my arms around and screaming before going back under. The Sharks were moving around, snapping at the water. I felt pain in my right arm and saw the water turn a deep shade of red. I felt even more seeking pain as the poison wound from years prior opened up.

And then I passed out.

* * *

Percy's POV

I dragged Annabeth's unconscious body out of the water. Her arm had three layers of teeth marks in it, something that should've taken it right off. I got Annabeth on a beach towel, listening distantly to the sounds of people screaming for help. I had been so stupid. They had bitten her 'weak spot', which is what I'm calling the spot on her arm where she took the dagger for me. Just focusing it made her hurt.

I grabbed my tee shirt, which had been thrown aside and was dry, and wrapped it around her arm, sealing the wound, but also soaking my tee shirt in blood. Then, I began CPR, pumping her chest a few times. I then tilted her chin up, pinched her nose and put my mouth on hers, 'breathing in.' (in a not disgusting way, I was pulling the water out of her lungs.)

In less than two 'breaths', Annabeth gasped, sitting up and knocking me away, then started coughing. "She's alive!" someone called, while someone else said, "He saved her!" Annabeth looked at me, then threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

 _I can't believe you almost killed me!_ She was mentally punching me.

"Let's get you to an ambulance, for your arm," I said, picking her up bridal style. Sure enough, there was an ambulance a few yards away.

"You saved me," she said in a flushed voice. "Why?"

"Think of me as Superman, babe," I said with a wink.

 _You want me to murder your baby making machine?_

 **LALALALALALA!**

I put her down on the abulance table thing ( _stretcher_!) and took a deep breath, running a hand through my hair. I made sure to keep an eye for Bobby and Mathew, who weren't too far away. They came running over, saying something that I knew was fake but sounded very believable.

"You saved our sister!" Mathew exclaimed.

"Annabeth! I told you not to buy those damn headphones! They could've killed you! You never listen to me or to Mom and look what happened!" Bobby ranted, making Annabeth laugh. I quickly snapped my fingers, willing the Mist so that they believed Annabeth was fine.

 _And if I wasn't?_

 **Leave it to me.**

After that, people asked me and her a bunch of questions, for like hours until the beach closed. I started my walk back to three blocks from the beach, where I would wait for Annabeth with my car.

"I said something news worthy, not kill your best friend," Dad said, stepping you from his hiding place. I chuckled, rolling my eyes.

"Annabeth is alive, Dad," I clarified. "Was that news worthy enough?"

"I guess. But you outsmarted my system. You were supposed to take three days not three hours." He's so whiny.

 _Percy! You can't call your father whiny._ _That's rude._

 **Shut up, Wise Girl**.

"It was more Annabeth's idea, after we got booted down to second place," I explained. Annabeth rolled up, putting the car in park and stepping out.

"Evening, Lord Poseidon," Annabeth said, then walked around the front and to the passenger's seat.

"I'll talk to you later," I told my dad, then got in my car. I put the hood up and rolled up the windows.

Mathew handed me a spare shirt that a slipped on. _Poop, he's wearing a shirt._ **I can** **still hear your thoughts.**

 _I don't care anymore. You know you have an amazing body. I know you have an amazing body. Why even try to hide it? So what if you know that I can't help but look at you when you go swimming and can't stop thinking about the beach earlier or that I really wish I could back some sweet sweet squares of ambrosia all over your glorious abs._

 **You sound crazy. Did you lose any oxygen when you drowned?**

 _How am I supposed to know? I was basically dead!_

 **I started panicking and I let you slip, I'm sorry!**

 _Wait a minute. Sweet square of ambrosia?_

 **Leave me be! I'm still a teen girl who thinks things.**

 _Whatever_.

I went back to focusing on the road, paying attention to everything but the voice of Annabeth in my head. I learned that if I focus on something other than my thoughts, I can barely hear Annabeth's. The way the colors of the sun and the sky bleed together as the sun dips below the horizon. The gleam of the colors off the car. The sound of the deep breaths of the twins as they sleep in the backseat.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help but look at Annabeth. Her blonde curls were pulled back in a ponytail. She tapped her finger nervously on the windowsill. Her stormy gray eyes moved around quickly.

"Percy," Annabeth said. I hummed in response. _That sound._ "When you were talking with the Sharks, you said something about how you trusted your life with me, and you mentioned that you lo—"

Large horse legs came crashing onto the car, making us both jump. I swerved slightly, then pulled over quickly. A centaur jumped off of my car and next to my window. "What the hell! Look what you did to my car!" I exclaimed loudly.

"Sorry bro! Have fun without a car!" The centaur exclaimed, running off.

"What were you saying?" I asked Annabeth.

"Oh, it was nothing," she said as we both climbed out. We looked under the hood, seeing that the hoofs had busted the engine.

"Great, now we don't have a car," I mumbled. "Go wake up your brothers, we've gotta walk back to the hotel."

"Shouldn't you call a tow truck?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't have a phone," I said.

"I'll stay here, you go to that payphone," Annabeth said, slipping a few quarters in my hand.

 _I just don't understand how one centaur busted up his car. And I hate not understanding._

 **It'll be okay. Maybe I can get them to send my car back home. Save me a trip. Don't worry about it, Wise Girl.**


	17. Chapter 17

Annabeth's POV

I sat in the car and and listened to Percy talking with the tow truck company, and then his battle with his insurance company. After he came back, we waited in the car for the tow truck guy, who came less than five minutes later. We got our stuff out of the car. "Weren't you two on the news? The shark attack?" The two truck lady said. I smiled at Percy.

"Yea," I said.

"Very amazing what you did," she said. "How bout, I take a look at your car, see what I can do, and you get it back free of charge?"

"Oh no, that's fine," Percy said. **Please object, please object.**

"I insist," she said. "I'll ring you up later, kay?"

"Alright," Percy said. _How is she gonna call him?_

 **Its under my Mom's name, so she'll** **call my mom.**

We walked back to the hotel and went straight to our rooms. Percy forced me to lay down so he could check on my arm. **I still feel really bad.** _It's not your fault you didn't specify where they could bite_. After he redressed my wound, I went and got a nice, long, well deserved shower. After I finished, I put on some undergarments, then a hotel robe, then left the bathroom.

Percy was talking and laughing it up with some hotel cleaning lady, who looked way to young to be working there. She stopped laughing and looked at me, a scowl on her face. I gladly returned the scowl, then went over and sat next to Percy. "Hey Perce, who's this?" I asked, looking at Percy.

 **Annabeth? Why are you naked?**

 _Why do you sound so amused?_

 **You came out and made it look like I was sleeping with you.**

 _Ew. And I'm not naked. I just don't have any clothes._

"I'm gonna go," the girl said. She flirtatiously waved at Percy, saying, "By Percy." like one of those sluts in the Aphrodite cabin.

 **Wait, did you say ew to sleeping with me?**

 _Yes_.

 **Why? I'd be amazing in bed.**

 _And I'm Beyoncé._

 **I'm very offended.**

 _Don't be. It's not your fault that I bruised your baby making machine_.

 **NOT THIS AGAIN!**

 _Hahahahaha. You make me laugh._

"So I'm out of clothes, and I was gonna run some laundry but wanted to know if you needed to wash anything too." I said.

"Yea, let me take a shower first," Percy said, getting up. "If you need some clothes I've got some extra gym shorts or sweatpants and tee shirts if you need."

He got up and rushed off to the bathroom. Strange. **Good going, Jackson. You rambling idiot.** I chuckled to myself, going over to his backpack. I pulled out a pair of black and red basketball shorts and pulled them on. I went in my bag and pulled on my undershirt, then discarded my robe.

Percy came out naked. **I'm not naked.** Percy came out in a pair of blue boxers, basically naked. I couldn't help but stare at his abs. I have a problem. He came over and pulled me up by my arms. "I know I'm freaking sexy, but you can't keep getting distracted." Percy said.

"Uh huh," I said absentmindedly.

"Come on, teach me to do laundry," Percy said, shaking my shoulders.

"You don't know how to do laundry?" I asked.

"Nope, now teach me." Percy said.

After thirty minutes of the sadest lesson ever ( **it wasn't that sad** ), Percy and I started getting rest for bed. The scoreboard came back up, showing that we were tied for first with Nico and Will. We then got an Iris message.

"Jason? Piper? How'd you know where we were?" I asked, looking at them.

"You guys are all over the news," Piper said. "First you guys were wanted, then Annabeth was attacked by sharks. What type of challenges are you guys getting?"

"And where are you? Could you give us a clue?" Jason asked.

"We're at the Fountainbleu in Miami," I said.

"Fancy," Piper said. "Is Percy naked?"

"No, he's wearing boxers," I said.

"Do you wanna touch too? Cause it seems like anytime I'm not wearing a shirt around Annabeth, she has a whole 'grope Percy fest'." I punched Percy's arm, making him fake being hurt.

"Every time?" Piper asked. "Have you guys been having fun? If you know what I mean."

"Why does everybody think I'm sleeping with Percy?" I asked.

"Cause you're wearing his pants. And he's wearing only underpants." Jason said.

"We've been gone for like, two weeks. We're out of clothes." Percy said.

"Hola Team Percabeth!" Aphrodite exclaimed, poofing in and dissolving the rainbow mist. _Team Percabeth? What's that?_ "Time for the Aphrodite challenge! I think it's the hardest one yet."

"What is a Percabeth?" Percy asked.

"So, there are three things you have to do," Aphrodite said, ignoring Percy. "You get the first one now. You find out the next one after you finish the first, and so forth. First: you have to talk about and describe your first kiss. You have two and a half hours, otherwise you're out of the games."

Poof! She was gone. I looked at Percy and sighed. "Who's going first? You or me?"

"You could go first," Percy said, rubbing be back of his neck nervously.

"Okay," I said. "So, I was with this guy at Mt. St. Helens and we were fighting monsters. He told me that he'll hold them off and for me to go. I didn't want to leave him cause hem fire have died, so I kissed him, then left."

I looked down at my feet, then glanced back up at Percy. His cheeks were red as he looked down at his feet. "Me too." Percy said. "That was my first kiss too." _Gods look at him. He's blushing. Probably super embarrassed that stupid me was his first kiss._

"I'm not embarrassed, Annabeth." Percy said.

 _ **"I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice."**_

 ** _Annabeth glared at me like she was going to punch me. And then she did something that surprised me even more. She kissed me._ _"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." She put on her hat and vanished._ _I probably would've sat there for the rest of the day, staring at the lava and trying to remember what my name was, but the sea demons jarred me back to reality._**

"You're thinking about it again." I pointed out, making him turn an even darker shade of red. Then there was another memory.

 ** _Suddenly there was a tug in my lower back. The current pulled at me, but it wasn't carrying me away_**

 ** _anymore. I imagined the string in my back keeping me tied to the shore._**

 ** _"Hold on, Seaweed Brain." It was Annabeth's voice, much clearer now. "You're not getting away from me that easily."_**

 ** _The cord strengthened._**

 ** _I could see Annabeth now—standing barefoot above me on the canoe lake pier. I'd fallen out of my canoe. That was it. She was reaching out her hand to haul me up, and she was trying not to laugh. She wore her orange camp T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was tucked up in her Yankees cap, which was strange because that should have made her invisible._**

 ** _"You are such an idiot sometimes." She smiled. "Come on. Take my hand."_**

 ** _Memories came flooding back to me—sharper and more colorful. I stopped dissolving. My name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeth's hand._**

 ** _Suddenly I burst out of_** ** _the river._**

I looked at Percy with a confused look. But before I could ask, Aphrodite popped back in the room. "You guys are so adorable. Now for the next part." Aphrodite said. "I'm calling it emotional bravery. By tomorrow afternoon, at exactly noon, you'd better tell someone you really _really_ care about how you feel. Otherwise you lose."

Poof. She was gone.


	18. Chapter 18

I was about to go to bed when I pulled the blanket back and screamed. Underneath the blanket was a mess of spiderwebs and a big spider. I screamed again, falling back onto Percy's bed. He sat up, looking at me confused. "What's wrong?" Percy asked, reaching for Riptide. I shakily pointed at the bed. He looked over my shoulder and groaned.

He got up and I'm guessing he killed the spider. He then crawled back in his bed, pulling me down with him. "Just sleep here for tonight." he said sleepily, pulling up the blanket. I'm going to say he was too tired to notice that he was spooning me. I noticed, but didn't make a big deal about it.

I woke up when the sun was rising. Percy's breathing was tickling my ear. His hand was resting on my stomach. "You awake?" Percy whispered.

"Yea," I said quietly.

"Listen," Percy said. "You know that flashback you saw?"

"Yea," I said.

"Uh, well," Percy said nervously. I turned over, looking into his sea green eyes.

"You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?" I asked.

"You'd probably kick my butt." Percy said.

"You know I'd kick your butt."

"When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable . . . Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."

"Yeah?" I said.

"Then up on Olympus," Percy said, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking—"

"Oh, you so wanted to."

"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought—I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking . . ."

"Anyone in particular?" I asked, my voice soft. He looked over and saw that I was trying not to smile.

"You're laughing at me," he complained.

"I am not!"

"You are so not making this easy." Percy said. I started laughing.

"You know me. I'm will never make things easy for you." I said.

"Emotional bravery," Percy mumbled, then looked up at me. "Annabeth, I like you. I really like you. I went to Tartarus cause I didn't want to leave you. I really really like you."

"I real really like you too," I said, moving closer to him. I brushed his lips with mine. "Like, for a long long time. Like years. Like, since we were twelve. When I watched you sleep."

He chuckled softly, threading his fingers in my hair. "You're amazing, Wise Girl." he said.

"And you're stupid, Seaweed Brain," I said, then actually kissed him.

"Finally!" Aphrodite yelled, poofing in. I pulled back and Percy—well Percy as dos surprised he fell off the bed. He groaned, then sat up, running a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean, finally?" I asked as Percy stood up. **My ass hurts now**.

"It's been like six years!" Aphrodite exclaimed. "It's been obvious to everyone that you two are like, in love. Everyone has been bugging me and Eros to get you two together. How many times do we have to explain that love needs to happen naturally? Even your parents pray to us to get you together. That's right, Sally Jackson, Paul Blofis, Freddy Chase. All of them. Even Athena got tired of how long it took. Athena. Athena hates Percy. She can't freaking stand him. By her and Artemis threatened to hurt me if I didn't push you two together. That's right, Artemis _and_ Athena. The maiden goddesses!

"I'm the one that made Percy pick you, I made sure that there were spiders in your bed last night. That the mind reading thing freaked you out so Percy could save you in the water. That was all me! This whole game was my idea to get people who clearly need to be together to finally realize! I can't believe you two dense lovebirds didn't even realize until now! It's been like two weeks and maybe, I don't know six years! Do you know how hard Eros hit you with those arrows six years ago? And you just realized you guys like each other?

"Pathetic. I have never seen two more oblivious lovers in my _entire_ life. I'm like three thousand years old damnit. I had to be ordered by Athena, Poseidon, and _fucking_ Artemis to get you two together. I had to make up all that crap about emotional bravery and what not. I feel like quiting. I have never wanted to quit. Gods, you're just so frustrating."

 _Did Aphrodite just snap on us?_

 **Damn. And she cursed too.**

 _I feel so hurt._

"You should be hurt," Aphrodite said, continuing her rant. "No two people have ever made my job so hard. _Never!_ Here we are, in Miami, one of the most romantic cities in America, and it took a whole lot of love magic to finally get you two together. It was easier getting Clarisse with Chris. _Clarisse_."

Aphrodite's rant lasted ten more minutes before she finally stopped. "So, in conclusion, the actual Aphrodite challenge is this. You need to go to Charlestown, South Carolina, one of _the_ most romantic cities in America, and set up three blind dates for strangers."

Poof! I looked at Percy, amused. _That was really funny._

 **My mom? My mom asked Aphrodite to get us together? I need to have a serious chat with her.**

 _You should call her. I'll go get the laundry and then take a shower. Have fun._

Ω

We got a rental car in Miami, one we could drop back off in New York when this was all over. It was like someone gave the twins NyQuil, cause they were constantly asleep. The rental car was a convertible, not as nice as Percy's, but still nice. I sat with my chair back and my feet up on the dashboard. I was smiling like a dumb with nice sunglasses on and the wind messing up my hair.

"Get your feet off the damn dashboard," Percy told me for the umpteenth time. **What** **the heck is umpteenth?**

 _Tell you later._

"Why?" I asked. "Jealous that you can't do that?"

"If I carsh this car, then your head while slam into your knees and you'll probably die," Percy explained. "Do you wanna die?"

"No," I said grumpily, putting my feet down. "I'm supposed to be the downer and the logical one in this relationship, not you."

"Fine," Percy said, sighing. "I'll go back to being the idiot."

"Good," I said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "So how long until we reach South Carolina?"

"Long, I don't have an Mist or anything so I have to obey the traffic rules," Percy complained.

"Are we in Charlestown yet?" Mathew asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"We're near Jacksonville," Percy said.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked.

"I feel sick," Mathew whined. _Maybe that's why they've been sleeping so much. They might be sick._

 **I sure hope not.**

"Sick?" I asked, looking back at him. He did look sick. He was pale and sweaty, but also shivering, and his nose was red and runny. I looked at Bobby, who was starting to wake up. He then sat up abruptly and leaned over the window, and barfed.

 **Groddy.**

 _Df?_

Percy pulled over so the vomit wasn't—you know—flying onto the other cars. I don't think this was very fair. This was screaming curse from Apollo or one of his children, but we already suffered that. Now we had to take care of a sick Bobby and Mathew while trying to set strangers up with strangers.

Amazing. (she says with every last drop of sarcasm she has).

Percy took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't fret," Percy said. "We're _Percabeth_."

"What's that?" I asked. "How did you figure it out?"

"Jason has been the king me that for the longest," Percy explained. "Like everyone actually. And when Aphrodite said it, it clicked. Percabeth. Percy and Annabeth. It's our ship name. You know? Relationship name. Like how we call Jason and Piper Jiper or Frank and Hazel Frazel."

"People call us Percabeth? Why?"

"I dunno," Percy said. "Same reason we call Jason and Piper and Jiper."

I smiled down at our still linked hands. I could get used to this.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: dear** BlueberryBookworm21,

 **Thanks for the review! Now, I am a greedy, selfish person and NO ONE gets my Oreos, not even my sister.**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

A sparkly, sea green dress with no sleeves, form fitted, mid-thigh dress, silver strappy high heels, makeup, and my hair pinned back with a whale pin. **You look hot.** I smiled at Percy, looked at his outfit. He had on a blue dress shirt, nice and tight, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black slacks, and black sneakers.

"You look hot too," I said, pecking his lips.

"Don't get all—" Bobby stopped to break into a fit of coughing. "All lovey on us."

"Stick to the plan, and we'll be outta here," Mathew said.

The plane was simple: I get three guys to fall for me and Percy gets three girls. Percy would tell me when he got a girl and tell me the name. I'd then use that name to the guy and then send him to a restaurant that Percy was sending the girl to. It was evil, deceitful, and totally fun.

Now, to get into a place where a lot of single people are, you need to look the part. There was a nice hotel and casino a little way from our hotel. Unfortunately, it was the Lotus Hotel and Casino. But, being in a rush to heal my brothers, Percy and I swore to keep track of time while inside. And in case we didn't, we had gotten prepaid phones and the twins would call once every hour to remind us about the mission.

"Don't let anyone touch you," Percy warned me.

"Do you realize who you're telling?" I asked. "I've got my dagger. Just don't worry about where it is."

He chuckled, before we were engulfed in the hotel. We went our separate ways. I had done some research— **Of course you did** —and learned that for younger kids, they kept them here with games and fun. With teens and adults, they gave them lotus flowers that doused the senses. Made you drunk basically.

 **So stay away from food?**

 _Yes!_

I wandered around, kindly rejecting all foods. I could see people from many different decades. Their clothes gave it all away. Tassels? Platform shoes? Baggy pants? Poodle skirts? It looked like a giant costume party.

 **I hate it here. Too many bad memories.**

 _It's not like we didn't have fun._

 **Yea, but they tried to keep us here.**

 _Shut up, hottie at two o'clock._

 **Don't forget about your boyfriend! Don't** **get obsessed! I'm being serious, Annabeth.**

 _Yea yea._

The guy who was near me was tall and had brown curls and doughy brown eyes. His whole demeanor gave off a child at heart vibe, as he had chubby cheeks and absolutely no facial hair. **You don't describe me.** _You're very handsome, now hush._ I approached the guy, imitating my best daughter of Aphrodite look. Not just daughter of Aphrodite, Drew Tanaka slut walk.

 **Drew Tanaka. That slutty bitch.**

 _Language_.

"Excuse me?" the guy asked, turning to me.

Haha, you said that out loud.

1 punch for when we meet up.

Gulp.

"I was just wondering," I said, looking for an excuse. "What language you spoke. You look kinda—" I studied his face, racking my brain for a culture match. I then thought about how he talked that once, and then it hit me. "Italian."

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Well I am, you're good," he said. "I've never seen gray eyes before."

"It's extremely rare," I said. "People think I have dull blue eyes, though." **I love your eyes.**

"You must be rarely beautiful," the guy said. **Stupid flirt. I found a girl.**

 _Good, get me a name._ "Do you have a name?" he asked me. **Jules.**

"Jules," I lied, with a flirty smile.

"Miles." he said. **Why are you so flirty?**

 _Don't worry about it._

Who knew Percy Jackson could get so jealous? We did that whole flirting thing a few more times, every few minutes getting calls from the Twins. Well it felt like minutes, but by the time I had finished and pulled Percy towards the exit, it had been two days.

Percy had eaten the drugged flower thing. I don't know how many he had, but he didn't have any real thoughts. He was probably thinking, but I could only hear actual thoughts, and his mind was blank. "Try the flower, Annie. I swear, it's delicious." Percy said, sounding like a drunk man without the breath.

"I will not eat the flower," I said, pulling on his arm to get to the door. "And no more flowers for you."

"But they're so good," Percy whined. The prepaid phone vibrated and I pulled it out, holding it to my ear.

"Annabeth, it's midnight of the third day," Bobby said in a raspy voice. "Where are you?"

"Percy ate the flower and is refusing to leave, but don't worry, we're on our way," I said. Then hung up.

"Wow, look at the pretty lights." I rolled my eyes, thinking of new ways to bring him back to reality.

 ** _Percy, think clearly._**

That was Poseidon. Maybe I might be able to talk to him. **_Annabeth?_**

 _Yes?_

 ** _Help Percy._**

"I hear you in my head," Percy said, giggling. "Who's the other guy?"

"Percy," I whined. **_Water can heal him._**

 _Alright Annabeth, time to put on your girl charm._ I smiled flirtatiously at Percy, batting my eyelashes. I ran my hand gently down his arm, looking up at his sea green eyes. I then took his hand, walking slowly across the room.

It was a little trick Piper and her sisters taught me. Teen guys (and guys in general) usually will be at your mercy if you look like—pardon my language—you're working the corner or a pole or a slut. I pushed Percy down on a stool, where he watched me expectantly.

I don't usually do anything like this, but I leaned to his ear, whispering, "How good is that flower?" in the sexiest voice I could muster. I had been with Percy for about a day, and I already knew how to take advantage of him.

Percy pulled me into a passionate kiss. I peaked an eye open, seeing his eyes closed. I then looked behind him, seeing a glass of what I hoped was water. I gently massaged his scalp with one hand, and slowly grabbed the glass with water. To finish off my master plan, I pulled back and dumped the water on his head.

He gasped, blinking as the water settled on his skin. I got an instant headache as his thoughts came rushing into my brain. **What the heck? Did Annabeth just dump water on me? When did we meet back up? How did I get over here? Why do I** **feel all jittery?**

"Let's go," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up.

"Where are we going?" Percy asked.

"We're leaving before we end up like Nico and be here for seventy years!" I exclaimed. "It's been three days! We're probably in last place by now—"

"Three days? What happened?" Before I could answer Percy, three cocktail waitresses and four waiters stepped in front of us, blocking our path. Their skin faltered, and I realized what they were.

 **What are they? I feel like I was drinking.**

 _Lotus eaters._


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Bad news...**

 **I have been neglecting my duties as a responsible student, and now only have until Monday to finish a 530 page book (I'm at 45). So, I won't be updating for a while. I have to stop myself from getting distracted, which means that until I finish the book, I'm blocking fan fiction. If you wanted to know, the book is _All the Light We Cannot See_. It's really good so far. **

**So, until further notice, I'm off of fanfic.**

 **xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

 **What in Hades is a Lotus Eater?**

 _I never explained it to you the first time we were here?_

 **No**.

 _Lotus Eaters were a race of people from an island near North Africa, filled with lotus plants. The plants are narcotic and addictive, causing people to sleep in peaceful apathy. Those that ate the lotus plant lost all their will and memory. Since all the myths move with the flame, the Lotus Hotels and Casinos must be the Lairs of the Lotus Eaters._

 **Let's run.**

I pulled off my shoes, grabbing the Yankees cap that was strapped to my ankle. "Where are you going, Ms. Chase and Mr. Jackson?" one of the guys asked. "Leaving so soon?"

I pulled the dagger out of the cap, making it visible. "Move." They snarled, then two of the girls lunged at me. I put the heels in their foreheads, making them sink to the ground. **Meet you at the exit.** I ran through the unconscious girls, crawling under tables and shocking random people.

Three workers surrounded me, making me freeze. I looked around and figured out a plan. I grabbed a long, wooden pool stick, poking one guy in the gut. I kicked another who was behind me, and finally broke the stick over the back of the third. I pulled my hat on, vanishing on sight.

 **Lucky. You have a hat.**

I turned back to where I came from, easily finding where Percy was fighting off workers. **No! Leave!** I tightened the gri0 on my dagger and sunk it into the back of one worker, making him slump on the ground. I pulled out my dagger and sunk it into another man. Percy stabbed the other win his sword, then pulled it out. **Annabeth?** I pulled off my Yankees cap, becoming visible.

I grabbed Percy's hand and dragged him with me to the exit. We literally ran out and continued for about twenty minutes before we took a break. We were both breathing hard, covered in sweat, and—and I just realized the pain in my feet. I had ditched my shoes back at the hotel, and now I was paying the price.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

"You were being a Seaweed Brain and ate a flower," I said, playfully hitting his chest. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking at the screen.

"That's a lot of missed calls," he muttered. "Four am?"

"Come on, we left the twins alone for about three days, sick." I said.

Where are her shoes? Why can't I remember anything after going in there?

"Let's go," I said, pulling him faster. He stopped, making me nearly fall. No matter what, if Percy didn't want to move, I couldn't make him. He bench presses _me_. If he wanted to, he could kill me. So if he's standing his ground, I can't stop him.

"Get on my back," Percy said. Now he's lost it. "I have not lost it. We were running in the wrong direction and have a long way to go, and you can't walk around without shoes."

"I am not getting on your back," I said.

"Yes. At least for a little. Then we can get carriage and take it the rest of the way." That does sound like a smart idea. "Then stop objecting and started getting on my back."

I groaned as he turned around, squatting. I then climbed on his backs and he stood. It was weird seeing the world as high up as Percy did. **I know Sugar, I'm tall. Now tell me what happened.**

I told him about what felt like a few hours but was actually a few days, how we would get random people to meet up and he'd manipulate the Mist so they'd think they met each other.

"But, if we were trapped from the food and they were trapped from the food, how'd they meet up?" Percy asked. He really didn't remember.

"The bathroom." I said. "We would sneak off in there with them waiting outside, then they'd meet. Remember?"

"I guess," Percy said. **I feel all tingly.**

"You do?" I asked with an arched eyebrow. He rolled his eyes, hen got a horse drawn carriage. Other than the horse butt, it was really nice.

 _So why do you feel all tingly?_

 **I dunno. And I'm not telling you.**

Damn me. I started thinking about what I had done to him. His eyes went wide as his face reddened. And then he started thinking about things I can't tell you. Let me try though. **Holy fudge! She fudging made my fudging sausage cooked. Oh my gods, I need help. I'm gonna die. If anyone finds out, I'll be dead Athena _will_ kill me. **

I know, before I didn't have a problem with the 'F' word. I still don't, he just used it too much. I stared wide eyed at Percy, who buried his head in his hand.

"I had a girlfriend for one da—"

"It's been about three or four days now." I corrected.

"It's felt like a day, and I've already fucked up," he finished. I lifted his head to look at me.

"Language," I said with a smirk. He rolled his eyes. "But don't worry, you're still cute."

"Cute?" Percy asked. "I remember you saying I was hot and handsome."

"You are," I said, kissing his forehead. "Gosh, you're supposed to be boosting my self esteem, not the other way around."

"You missed." _What?_ "I said you missed."

"Missed what?" I asked. He smirked.

"My mouth." And then we kissed.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: These next few chapters go out to all my ladies, who are just living their lives and are enjoying their time. And then, like always, at the worst moment possible, their period crashes the party. I know how you feel. And you have to go on a scavenger hunt for a pad or something, cause your on vacation and don't have any. I know the struggle.**

 **Sorry if I mess with how I display the cramps. Cause I have never had period cramps in my life. Yea I had this ovarian surgery when I was eleven and I've never once had period cramps since.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

The next morning, the twins were healed. Like completely. The four of us hung out in Percy and me's room, waiting for the next clue. The television in our room was busted so we were waiting for the repairman. No offense, but he was just so ugly. **Annabeth!** _I'm being honest._

 **How many challenges do we have left?**

 _We have Demeter, Zeus, and Hephaestus._

 **Isn't Hephaestus really ugly?**

 _Stop being smart. You're supposed be to idiotic so I can call you Seaweed Brain and you can make a funny joke and ask for a kiss and I'll reject and you'll kiss me anyway. That how it works._

 **You could just ask for a kiss, ya know. Relationships are a two way street.**

 _I don't have a driver's license._

 **You can walk.**

 _Ha_.

Percy tenderly kissed my forehead. I pouted, making him laugh. "What's wrong?" I smirked, saying, "You missed." Percy let out a chuckle, then lightly pecked my lips. I pouted, but looked up at the repairman, who looked kinda sad.

"I remember when Aphrodite did that to me, before she got that no good boyfriend Ares." _Definitely Hephaestus._

 **Told ya. I shouldn't put money on it.**

"Does this mean it's time for the Hephaestus challenge?" I asked.

"Well of course!" Hephaestus beamed.

"The what?" Bobby asked.

"Hephaestus challenge," I repeated. "Spelled H-E-P-H-A-E-S-T-U-S, pronounced Ha-fes-tus."

"Nerd," Percy said, trying to cover it with a cough. I punched his arm, sending him from his spot on the bed and onto the ground. **Ow. My ass hurts!**

"I hope your ass hurts," I said. "Don't call me a nerd."

"Why would you want me to be in pain?" Percy whined, slowly getting up.

"So," I said, ignoring Percy **like a rude**. "What's the challenge?"

"In the motor city you will find something lost to hooves of in time, to repair or be despaired."

 **Motor city?**

 _Detroit, Michigan, Seaweed Brain._

"I didn't get it," Mathew said after Hephaestus left.

"Let's just treat it like a prophecy," I suggested.

"I also don't know how to do that," Mathew admitted.

"What's a prophecy?" Bobby asked.

"It's what we use as guides for quests," I said. "There was a Great Prophecy."

" _A half-blood of the eldest gods_

 _Shall reach sixteen against all odds_

 _And see the world in endless sleep_

 _The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

 _A single choice shall end his days_

 _Olympus to preserve or raze._ " Percy recited, shivering. "And it's raze with a 'z', as in destroy."

"Dang," Mathew mumbled.

"So how'd it unravel itself?" Bobby asked.

"Percy is a half-blood child of Poseidon, one of the eldest gods. Percy turns 16 at the climax of the Battle of Manhattan, despite all his near death experiences. Morpheus, god of dreams, put every mortal in Manhattan to sleep. "The hero" does not refer to Percy, but to Luke, whose soul was reaped by my knife, cursed because of Luke's broken promise to me.

"He was a hero for eventually destroying Kronos, who was using him as his host. Percy's choice, to give Luke the knife allowing Luke to kill himself and therefore killing Kronos, ending Luke's life. Olympus was preserved because Percy chose to give Luke my knife so that Luke could destroy Kronos by cutting his Achilles' heel (under his arm)." I explained.

"Now let's load up the car and head to Detroit," Percy said, clapping his hands together.

"Everyone use the bathroom before we're on the road," I said, then went into the bathroom.

 **Please don't tell me about your time in there.**

 _Shit_.

 **Are you dying? Is everything alright?**

 _Shit shit shit shit shit. I'm not ready for this._

 **For what? Annabeth?**

 _PERCY SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO THINK._

 **Why are you yelling? What's wrong?**

 _This is all YOUR FAULT!_

 **Me? What did I do?**

 _I didn't get my period until the day you showed up at camp!_

 **That's what this is about? I don't care anymore.**

 _Too fucking bad. Shit, this is not supposed to happen._

 **You're not supposed to get your period? I thought I was a girl thing?**

 _At camp, we take these special drugs and such so we don't get cramps and such. That's only if we have a quest, and every freakin summer I'm on a quest. But since I'm not—_

 **Are you gonna be a she-demon? Do you even have pads?**

 _That's not your damn business._

 **Okay fine. Do you want me to bring you your backpack?**

 _Yes please._

 **Where is Annabeth's bag? Lemme check her side of the room. Books, books, books. Damn, Annabeth is a serious nerd. I don't know how she can handle reading all these books with dyslexia. Oh, most of these are in Greek. Harry Potter? The Conplete Works of Shakespeare? Divergent Series? Annabeth's Diary, Do Not Touch.**

 _Perseus Jackson stop going through my books!_

 **Gods you scared me!**

 _Just get the backpack and hurry up._

 **Clothes, clothes, more clot—AH!**

 _What?_

 **I TOUCHED A BRA! DEAR GODS I TOUCHED A BRA.**

 _Which one?_

 **What the hell? I am not going to tell what bra it is!**

 _Percy, you're seventeen. This can't be the first time you've seen a bra. I literally trained with you in a bra and shorts a few weeks ago._

 **That's different. That's seeing. I touched it.**

 _It's not like it's dirty or sweaty. Just tell me which bra it is._

 **It's black.**

 _All of my bras are black Percy._

 **How was I supposed to know that? I don't study your bras.**

 _Is it a balconette bra, contour bra, demi cup bra, full cup bra, padded, plunge, push up, sports bra?_

 **Why do you have so many bra options? Why do you know what they're all called? Why do you expect me to know any of those other than sports bra?**

 _Percy_.

 **Its a sports bra with white threads and had the Nike logo on it.**

 _Put it in my bag. I like that one._

 **Ew. Don't tell me about it!**

 **I found the bag! Thank the gods of lost things! Now to put the bra in. Back to the bathroom.**

Ω

About an hour and a half later, listening to Percy's thoughts made me even more miserable than I already was. I had my knees up to my chest, even though Percy told me not to, and had my head resting on my knees. "Percy I'm dying," I whined.

"Don't worry, she just says that," Bobby said.

"Once a month, every month," Mathew said, sighing. "I kinda wish someone would just get her pregnant so I don't have to watch this torture."

"What?" Percy asked. Aren't those two ten?

"We live with two ladies," Bobby explained. "One that complains about everything, and the other that is our mother."

I snapped my head up and at them, glaring. "I do not complain."

"Good luck, Percy," Mathew said. "Without any type of painkillers, she's gonna be worse than Kronos."

 _Great, now they know how to make Greek references._

 _Shit, I don't have any pain killers._

"Percy, you're gonna have to go to a drug store," I said.

"Yea yea, I know," Percy said.

"I wonder when we'll get to fight monsters," Mathew said excitedly. _Hopefully never._

"What type of monsters are out there?" Bobby said. I tossed them a notebook.

"It has all the monsters I know about in it," I explained. "Don't ruin it."

 **Why?**

 **I hope she doesn't make me buy her pads.**

 _I won't._

 **I always forget you can hear me.**

 _Me too, and I'll make you buy pads and tapons. They come in a cute little package, Playtex Sport Combo._

 **Groan**.


	22. Chapter 22

Percy's POV

"I am not going in that store alone," I stated. "Who's coming with me?"

"Can we buy snacks?" Bobby asked hopefully.

"Only one of you can come, the other had to watch Annabeth watch the car." I said.

"I'll go," Bobby said, getting out. I grabbed my backpack and headed to the drug store. I was already regretting this.

 _But you're doing it for me._

 **No response.**

Inside the store, we grabbed a few bags of chips and water bottles (and one bottle of Vanilla Coke) then a bottle of Advil _Get some Aleve too. The PM one._ I grabbed the dark box, then started heading to the section I was dreading since parking.

Who knew there were so many brands for pads? _I did_. Like, the amount of brands was excessive. There were pads and tampons (yuck) and bladder diaper things for old ladies _Don't be rude_ , and panty liner? _Oh, get me a box of those too!_ Bobby grabbed the box of pads and tampons, and I (begrudgingly) grabbed a box of panty liner.

 _Yay! You're the best!_

 **Whatever**.

Together, we went to the counter and put the stuff down. As soon as the guy at the counter looked up, I felt like I was going to die. Matt Sloan. _Who's that?_ Please don't recognize me. Please please don't—

"Percy Jackson? Is that you?" Sloan asked. **Fuck**.

 _Language_.

"Hey Sloan," I said hesitantly. _Who's Sloan?_

"What brings you to Sweetwater?" Sloan asked. That's a town in Tennessee.

"Just passing through," I said.

"Is that your brother?" Sloan asked.

"No, he's my girlfriend's half-brother," I explained, making him laugh. "Bobby, this is Matt Sloan, we were in middle school together." **When he pelted me with dodgeball and Giants!**

 _Oh that kid!_

"Oh, you have a girlfriend?" Sloan asked, arching an eyebrow. "Is it that blonde girl?"

 _I have a name._

"Yea," I said. "Her name is Annabeth, by the way. We're kinda in a hurry so..."

"Where you guys heading?" Sloan asked as he started scanning our stuff.

"Detroit," Bobby answered.

"That's far," Sloan said. "Pads, Jackson?" I felt the blood rush to my face. _Why are you embarrassed? You're helping me, your girlfriend._

"They're for Annabeth," Bobby said defensively. "The Doritos are for me."

"How old are you, kid?" Sloan asked.

"Ten, you?" Bobby replied. _He's ten?_

I started laughing, probably looking crazy. _Probably?_ Bobby and Sloan looked at me like I was crazy. "Why are you laughing?" Bobby asked.

"Annabeth doesn't know your age," I said between laughter. Bobby understood, but Sloan did not. Which is why he looked at me like I was crazy once more, and then quickly checked us out.

 _Hah! People think you're crazy!_

 **Don't make fun of the people buying you** **food and medicine.**

 _True_.

Ω

We got a hotel a good distance away from the drug store. A really good, far hotel. And in that hotel is when Annabeth went from being slightly in pain to full fledged pain. The twins already disappeared to their room, leaving me with Annabeth until she fell asleep.

First she flopped onto the bed, letting out a groan. I signed, then went over and pulled her into a standing position. "Percy," Annabeth whined as I dragged her to the bathroom. _Where is he taking me? I'm in pain!_

"You can't just lay down, cause you're gonna fall asleep." I explained. "You at least need to take a shower." She whined some more as I sat her down on the toilet.

"Percy," she said in a whiny voice.

"Just to let you know, I am not giving you a shower," I said. _That's not fair! He forced me here!_ "Life ain't fair princess."

"Shut up before I kick you in the nuts," she hissed.

"Nutz." I corrected, making her glower at me. _I am gonna kill Percy._

"I am not giving you a shower, end of story." I said.

"Don't leave me!" she said, reaching up to me.

"Annabeth, I am not giving you a shower." I said.

"Fine," she huffed. "Could you at least turn on the water? Please?"

I nodded, leaning into the shower and twisting the knob. I then quickly left the bathroom, laying down on the bed I was gonna claim as mine. _No picking beds without me!_ I just rolled my eyes, then reached into my bag for this book I was reading. _You read outside of school?_

 **Yes Annabeth, I'm not a total Seaweed Brain.**

 _Groan. My stomach hours so much._

I opened my book to page one _You're on page one!?_ and started reading. By the time Annabeth came out I was only on page six. Two reasons: one, Annabeth kept commenting on the book _You're seventeen! Why are you reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid?_ **Because I can!** Two, I'm dyslexic. So, Annabeth came out of the bathroom in only shorts (I am not lying, she was wearing only a pair of black Soffee shorts) and threw herself on the bed. The bed that was closest to the bathroom. Which was the bed I was on.

"Do you feel better?" I asked, putting my book away.

"No," she said in a muffled voice.

"Why are you not wearing clothes?" I asked.

"I'm in pain," she whined, then rolled onto her back.

"At least put on a bra," I said, getting off the bed.

"No," she whined. "My boobs hurt."

"You need to put on a bra," I said. "What if a monster attacks?"

"Then I'll lay here and you'll protect me," she said. "You'll protect me, right?"

"Yes, but you can't just go without a bra," I said.

"Watch me," she said, rolling back over onto her stomach.

"At least put on your sleep clothes." I said, going over to her bag.

"No!" Annabeth exclaimed, followed by a loud groan. "No more pants. If I didn't have to wear a pad, I wouldn't be wearing pants right now." That was a lot of information I didn't need. She'd been giving me a lot of excessive info.

"Well you can't sleep naked, or at least half naked." I protested.

"Lemme wear one of your shirts," she said, moving onto her back. Remind you, she's still topless.

"Percy," Annabeth whined. I huffed, then grabbed my backpack. I pulled out an orange Camp Half-Blood tee shirt and tossed it to her.

"Moving makes me hurt more," Annabeth whined. She held up her arms, saying, "Dress me."

"What?" I asked, staring at her. _Percys are just so lost._

"Please?" She made a puppy dog face. **I hate that face!**

I grabbed the tee shirt and moved to her, while she just rolled onto her belly. I put her arms in the sleeves of the shirt, then pulled her up by her armpits and rolled the rest down. She looked back at me and gave me a smile.

"You're the best, Percy." I couldn't help but smile like a little kid. _You're too cute._ She leaned back into me, letting out a long whine.

"Cutie," Annabeth said in a baby voice. "Can I have some medicine?" I smiled at her.

"Sure, which bed to you want?" I asked.

"The one I was not rubbing all up on a few minutes ago," she said, making me laugh.

"Can I carry you? Or do you ant me to drag you again?" I asked. _I kinda want him to carry me, but it was easier when he dragged me._ "I can hear you."

I started dragging her across the room. I climbed over the bed so she was laying on it. "See how easy that was?" I asked, walking to the other side. "Now how can I be of assistance to you, malady?"

She giggled, propping herself up on her elbows. _Hmm, what should I make him do?_ "I'm hungry." Annabeth said. "Food please."

"They have a lovely order up pizza here," I suggested. "I'll go see if the twins what any."

And sure enough, they did. They said they'd join us in our room when the pizza came, cause they don't want to be in Annabeth's line of wrath. When I went back, Annabeth was laying on her stomach, on my laptop. "What're you doing?" I asked.

"Did you know that sex can help with period cramps?" Annabeth asked, looking at me.

"Interesting," I said, picking up the phone. _He doesn't care._ "I do not." _He's always like this._

"It's not very nice to talk bad about someone who can hear your thoughts," I pointed out. In return, she gave me the finger.

Before I could reply, an Iris-message started up. It showed what I'm guessing was the game's logo, then Harley and Austin. "Hello," Austin said cheerily. "I'm hot host, Austin Lake, and this is your game coordinator, Harley. We have a very special announcement today."

"Today," Harley said like he was reading off of something. "We have two pairs that dropped out of the games."

"Yikes, I know," Austin said. "Harley, could you tell us who dropped out?"

"Certainly Austin," Harley said. "Team Leo Valdez and Drew Tanaka have officially removed themselves from the games after Drew refused to go on if she could stop and shower."

"And Team Clarisse and Chris have also dropped out, much to Clarisse's dismay," Austin said. "Our sources say that their relationship was being put on a strain while in the games and they can't lose each other again."

"Speaking of relationships," Harley said, sounding extremely excited. "Only a week ago did everyone's favorite demigods finally get together. Here's the game footage."

And then the image switched to Annabeth and I from last week. _"You awake?" Percy whispered._

 _"Yea," Annabeth said quietly._

 _"Listen," Percy said. "You know that flashback you saw?"_

 _"Yea," She said._

 _"Uh, well," Percy said nervously. She turned over, looking into his sea green eyes._

 _"You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?" She asked._

 _"You'd probably kick my butt." Percy said._

 _"You know I'd kick your butt."_

 _"When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable . . . Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."_

 _"Yeah?" She said._

 _"Then up on Olympus," Percy said, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking—"_

 _"Oh, you so wanted to."_

 _"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought—I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking . . ."_

 _"Anyone in particular?" She asked, her voice soft. He looked over and saw that she was trying not to smile._

 _"You're laughing at me," he complained._

 _"I am not!"_

 _"You are so not making this easy." Percy said. Annabeth started laughing._

 _"You know me. I'm will never make things easy for you." she said._

 _"Emotional bravery," Percy mumbled, then looked up at me. "Annabeth, I like you. I really like you. I went to Tartarus cause I didn't want to leave you. I really really like you."_

 _"I real really like you too," she said, moving closer to him. She brushed his lips with her own. "Like, for a long long time. Like years. Like, since we were twelve. When I watched you sleep."_

 _He chuckled softly, threading his fingers in her hair. "You're amazing, Wise Girl." he said._

 _"And you're stupid, Seaweed Brain," she said, then actually kissed him._

 _"Finally!" Aphrodite yelled, poofing in. Annabeth pulled back and Percy—well Percy was so surprised he fell off the bed. He groaned, then sat up, running a hand through his hair._

 _"What do you mean, finally?" she asked as Percy stood up._

 _"It's been like six years!" Aphrodite exclaimed. "It's been obvious to everyone that you two are like, in love. Everyone has been bugging me and Eros to get you two together. How many times do we have to explain that love needs to happen naturally? Even your parents pray to us to get you together. That's right, Sally Jackson, Paul Blofis, Freddy Chase. All of them. Even Athena got tired of how long it took. Athena. Athena hates Percy. She can't freaking stand him. By her and Artemis threatened to hurt me if I didn't push you two together. That's right, Artemis andAthena. The maiden_ _goddesses_!

It switched back to Harley and Austin, who were laughing. "Even Aphrodite yelled at them!" Austin exclaimed, laughing harder.

"He fell on his butt," Harley said, wiping his eyes. "Oh, they're funny."

"Now to the leaderboard," Austin said. "In first place is Team Jason/Piper tied with Team Annabeth/Percy. In second place is Team Will/Nico. In third was Malcolm/Julie. In fourth was Travis/Kaite. And in fifth was Conner/Miranda.

"That's all the updates we have for you," Harley said.

"Good luck, and good day," Austin said before the faded away.

"How in Hades are we still tied for first?" Annabeth exclaimed. I shrugged, then plopped down on the other bed. I used the room phone to order a pizza, then I went back to my book. _You're reading a kids' book!_

 **I don't care! It's good!**

 _I could finish the entire series in a day!_

 **That's you, Annabeth. I don't like reading, and my dyslexia is way worse than normal campers.**

 _Fine_.


	23. Chapter 23

Do you ever wake up and not remember the night before? You didn't get drunk or anything, you just can't remember. That's how I felt when I woke up. Last thing I remembered was Percy forcing me to take a shower. Can you imagine waking up entirely confused? I was curled up in a ball with arms wrapped around me and a steady heartbeat in my ears. I'm in a shirt that's not mine, I can feel that I'm not wearing a bra, and it smells like seasalt.

I looked up slightly, seeing the sleeping face of Percy. I shifted slightly, making Percy stir. He opened his eyes and yawned, then gave me a smile. "Good morning," he said in a tired voice.

I scrunched up my face. "Confused are we." _Damn, I forgot he can hear me._ **Did you now?**

"Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we," Percy said, moving me to the other side of the bed so I wasn't on top of him. "Let's start with how you were just enjoying rolling over my bed without any type of top. Completely flashing your boobs to me."

"And you weren't fazed at all?" I asked in shock.

"Annabeth, I was breastfeed until I was six," Percy said. "Every time I switched schools I needed to take a stupid health class again. Like a month ago you were training with me in just a bra. We were at the beach last year, just you and me, you had a nip slip and thought I didn't notice. I just didn't say anything. Trust me, this is not the first time I've seen a pair of boobs. And you weren't being the sexiest with your whining and moaning and groaning."

"Six?" I asked, slightly shocked.

"Don't judge," he said. "So, you then made me dress you. We ordered pizza, found out our place. Then for some reason you told me sex helps with period cramps. I just assumed you were being naturally crazy and were not recommending we have sex because I am just not ready for that. So then, you started acting whiny again. Your brothers left with the food.

"You made me give you a massage. A very strange one too. Your back, feet, legs, lower stomach, shoulders. A movie played while the sound was overpowered by your repeating how you were dying and such. Then you wouldn't let me sleep, so I had to treat you like a baby. I made you tea, then warm milk. Then I had to cradle you like a baby, and sing until you fell asleep. Or I fell asleep. Someone fell asleep."

"Six Percy?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"This is why in never tell anyone," he exclaimed.

"You shouldn't. It's kinda really sad." I said, and he rolled his eyes again.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that somewhere between massage and bed time, we had a kinda heated make out session." Percy said, shrugging. **Kinda heated? You're such a stupid! Percy! She probably thinks your weird now.**

 _I've thought you were weird since we met._

"I thought I was too whiny to be sexy?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"You were being mood-swingy like a pregnant woman," Percy said. _I wonder if it was good?_ Percy started laughing.

"What?" I asked.

"You," he said, laughing. He kissed my nose, then went back to laughing. "You feeling better?"

"A little," I said. "It's just cause usually, I start taking some pain medicine two days in advance. But without a warning I wasn't prepared. And now that I'm thinking about it, this may have been an obstacle from Artemis."

"Why?" Percy asked, completely confused.

"Artemis is the goddess of maidenhood. I'm guessing they periods are in her domain." I explained. "Which is probably why it was much worse than usual this time around. And it probably will be for the next few days."

"This so why I am always very thankful that I'm a dude," Percy said. "Now, we have a Motor City to get to and we're only in Tennessee."

Percy rolled off the bed, standing up. "Are you gonna wear a bra today?" he asked. I rolled my eyes, making him chuckle.

He pulled his shirt over his head, his bare back facing me. I kinda wished he would turn around. I had a problem with his abs. How often do you see an eight pack on an already toned and leaned body? Percy turned around and walked over to me, a smirk on his face. Damnit, he could hear my thoughts.

"Why do you keep forgetting?" Percy asked. I shrugged, my eyes trailing down to his abs. He grabbed my wrist, shaking his head.

"what is with you and touching?" Percy asked.

"I gotta find out your gym," I mumbled, then looked up at him.

"Yea yea," Percy said, walking back to his bag. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Be back in ten minutes to twelve hours."

Ten minutes to twelve others? That's crazy.

I cannot believe I was being so helpless last night. I'm not like that. Like ever. I'd bet Bobby and Mathew would disagree. It's not like they know what it's like. They're dudes. That's like me judging Percy for example, judging how he lays on the floor for an hour groaning and complaining when I 'accidentally' kick him in the nuts.

 **Nutz**.

 _Damnit Jackson! Stay out of my head!_

 **I can't help it. And you weren't that** **helpless. Plus, I don't mind helping you.**

 _Don't expect it to be happening_ again.

 **Scrub-a-dub dub! In the tub! I love to scrub! Scrub-a-dub dub! This is the Jackson bathtub song/You can sing a long/ just don't bit your tongue!/ clean your tum/ then goes your bum/ don't forget your crack/ up to your back/ do your chin: then all around your shin.**

 _Percy? Are you singing in your head?_

 **It helps me concentrate on what I'm washing!**

 _And I'm the crazy one._

 **Time to wash around my hips/ now I'm onto my—**

 _Percy!_

 **What?**

 _No saying that._

 **What about you and your constant cursing?**

 _Who taught you that song?_

 **Well, there was a version my mom sang when I was a kid and refused to get in the tub. But I edited it so it could be fun.**

 _Yea. Sing the one your mom taught you._

 **No! Now I'm onto my dick!**

 _Ew!_

 **Fuck you mean ew? You were doing some stripper flashing last night and I didn't say anything! I'm literally singing a song about wagging myself and you're telling me to stop.**

 _It's not like I asked to be able to hear your thoughts._

 **I am not going to fight with you about a song.**

 _Fine then._

I slowly got up, popped in an Advil, then started walking around the room. I went to the table, where Riptide lay open next to my sword. I picked up my sword, turning it around in my hand before putting it back on the table. Percy started singing out loud, which meant his thoughts were quieter.

I heard quiet scratching on the room door and went to it, opening the door. A cute little chihuahua was on the other side, looking so lost and helpless. I walked in, going over to my bed. "What're you doing?" I asked it in a gentle voice. "Where's your owner?" I went over and looked at the collar. I nearly had a heart attack when I read his name:

Chimera

 **A Chimera?**

I stared as it grew into its true form. The Chimera has the head of a lion, the body of a goat, a blood-caked mane, and a ten-foot-long diamondback snake-headed tail which grows out of its shaggy behind.

 **What're you gonna do? You can't fight that thing!**

 _And why's that?_

 **Because you aren't wearing a bra!**

 _Stay out of my business! Don't worry about my_ _supportiveness and such._

I lunged for my sword, grabbing it off the table. **I'm coming to help you!** _No!_ I spun around, hitting the Chimera's tail with my sword. In return, it spit venom, which caused me to have to dodge out of the way. I opened it's mouth, a column of fire aiming right at me. If the bathroom door hadn't opened and Percy pulled me inside, I'd be scorched. Percy had closed the door as fast as he opened it, pressing his back to it. He was wearing a pair of plaid blue boxers.

"How do we beat it?" Percy asked me.

"I'm not the one that's fought it before," I said frantically.

"Yea but I just jumped into a river to save myself," he argued.

"Let's just grab our stuff and blow this Popsicle stand," I said. There was a shrill scream, one that sounded like Mathew. I face palmed, cursing myself. "I gotta go save my brother."

"I'm coming too," Percy said.

"You're naked and weaponless," I said.

"I can help," he added.

"Fine," I said.

Percy opened the door. Right outside the door was a large, scorching hole, giving us a view of our downstairs neighbor. Across the room, the Chimera was trying to break through the glass of the terrace, where Bobby and Mathew were boarding up the door. I jumped across the hole, nearly falling in. Percy was behind me, looking around for something. **Clothes. Where are my clothes? And my sword. But mainly my clothes.**

 ** _I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors._**

 ** _I couldn't let them get hurt. I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible._**

 ** _Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me._**

 ** _I dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eye-brows._**

 ** _Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges._**

 ** _Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument._**

"Hey chihuahua!" I yelled, catching the beast's attention. I jumped onto one of the beds, then bounced of of it, getting my sword to run down the side of it's head before it snapped it's tail at me, the teeth sinking into my shoulder.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled as I screamed out in pain.

My entire left arm was burning and growing numb. I fell to the ground, my sword falling away from me. **Forget clothes!** I crawled under the dusty bed, feeling around for my sword. Before I was even to the other side, I felt something snake around my ankle, pulling me out from under the bed. I grabbed what I could, which was one of Percy's dirty boxers (ew, I know) and threw it at the snake head, which was slowly crawling up my leg.

The snakehead screeched out, releasing me. **My undies are not that disgusting!** I rolled out of the way of a fire bolt, feeling the ends of my hair start to scorch. _Where was Percy?_ **I'm looking for my pants! Riptide moved there!** So I guess I'm on my own. I stayed under the bed for a little while, tying my hair in a messy low bun. I then sent a quick prayer to Ares and my mother, then rolled out on the other side.

Sword!

I grabbed hilt of my sword then got up, pointing it at the Chimera. "Bad doggy," I hissed. **Great, she's doing superhero one-liners.** It opened it's mouth to spit fire at me, but I threw my sword into it's opened mouth. It started choking on my weapon, so the snake head came after me. Percy came from behind it and sliced off the snake head. And then the whole thing crumbled to dust.

I was about to get happy, but instead I passed out.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Guys...I'm trying to get away with my mistakes. Ssssh...our secret.**

 **So, I've got some new stories up. Go check them out. Leave reviews. They're good.**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

When I woke up, I was moving. Why was I moving? It was getting dark, which meant I had slept through the whole day. **You did.** I looked to my left and saw Percy. He was driving, but kept sneaking glances at me. He then pulled off of the highway, put the car in park and then turned fully to me.

"There was venom in your shoulder," Percy explained. "So we had to get you some nectar that you refused at first. Then we nearly burned your insides. We almost killed you so many times."

"We? That was all you." I heard Mathew say.

"Are you feeling better Annabeth?" Bobby asked. I nodded because my mouth felt dry.

"Lucky you were just outside of Detroit," Percy said. "Let's get a hotel and rest up."

I nodded again. I then noticed I wasn't in an oversized teeshirt and some shorts. I was in a colorful sundress with short sleeves and my converse. **Figured you didn't want to spend the whole day in what you were wearing before.**

 _Thanks_.

 **And if your head hurts, blame** **Mathew for hitting it with the car door.**

I couldn't help but laugh. I shouldn't have been laughing since they tried to kill me, but it was funny. After a few minutes, we pulled up into a motel parking lot. A real step down from where we'd been staying before. "We're in trouble for destroying the last hotel so we need to stay in a motel for the next three nights." Percy explained.

"How bad was it?" I asked.

"There were holes in the floor, acid stains in the carpet and beds, and the people downstairs complained about a rabid pet." Percy said, making me laugh some more. Percy helped me out of the car, which is when I noticed the bandages around my right leg. Why did I need bandages there? I was only bitten on my shoulder.

"You didn't notice? It bit you while it was dragging you out from under the bed," Percy said.

"She must have been running on adrenaline," Bobby said as we made our way to the downstairs room.

"Annabeth? Percy?" From the room next to the one we were going to was Piper and Jason.

"What're you guys doing here?" Jason asked.

"Why is Annabeth wearing a dress?" Piper asked.

"You aren't speaking in rhymes," I pointed out.

"And she was unconscious for about the whole time Apollo was flying so we put her in the easiest thing to get her in." Mathew sai.

"Those must be your brothers," Jason said. "They look kinda like you."

"That's Bobby and that's Mathew, don't mix them up," I said. "So, explain."

"We're on the Hephaestus challenge." Jason said. "Something about the Motor City."

"We're on the Hephaestus challenge." Percy said.

"And I'm free of my rhyming curse for the whole challenge." Piper said. "Er-he. He's free of it."

"Okay." I said suspiciously. "After this we just have Zeus and Demeter, then we win."

"We're winning, cause that's who we have left too." Jason said.

"Where're your clear-sighted mortals?" Percy asked.

"None of your business, Jackson." Jason snapped.

"Cool it, Sparky." Percy shot back. "My team has not one but three Chases, and we're winning."

"We're winning, were ahead." Piper said. "And don't call me—er—him Sparky. That's rude and he hates it."

 _Let's just go, Percy._

Percy looked at me and nodded. _Can I get on your back? My leg hurts._ **Yea sure.** Percy got down and I climbed on his back, casting a sneaky smile to Jason and Piper as Percy unlocked the room. There were two beds in the room and a couch against the wall. Percy put me down on the bigger bed, where I sat up on my elbows.

"Who were they and why did they know who we were?" Mathew asked.

"Piper and Jason, they're another team," Percy said, sitting on the bed I was on. "Who's coming with me to get food?"

"I'll go," Bobby volunteered.

"Mathew, I'm leaving my backpack here. There is a knife in there. If there is a monster, Annabeth is not to get off that bed. I know you're only ten, but I'm trusting you to keep her safe until I get back." Percy said.

"I can handle myself," I said.

"You can barely walk," he pointed out.

"I only need my arms to swing a sword." I added.

"Fine. But Mathew."

"Got it." Mathew said, saluting Percy.

Percy kissed my forehead, then left with Bobby. Mathew moved to sit on my bed. "Let's play a game." I suggested.

"Do you have any demigod games?" Mathew asked.

"Well," I said thinking about it. "One thing we do play is Capture the Flag but we can't do that in here. I know quiz games, but they're hard."

"I ask, you answer," Mathew said.

"Alright. Five seconds by the way." I said.

"Name five major gods."

"Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Zeus, Hera." I said quickly.

"Ding ding ding." Mathew said. "Name five battles you've been in."

"Battle of Manhattan, Greek-Roman Civil War, Second Giant War, Second Titan War, battle against Cacus, Battle of the Labyrinth."

 **That's six, Wise Girl.**

 _The more the merrier._

"That's six," Mathew pointed out. "Name two strange things you have encountered."

"You and Bobby."

"Really? That dog monster thing that tried to kill you is more normal than us?" Mathew asked and I nodded.

"Your best friend."

"Piper." **What?!** "Fine Percy."

"I don't think this is a game, it seems more like studying." Mathew said.

"Studying is fun." I said, smiling.

"Ew," Mathew said. "I always forget you're boring. Let's play a fun game. Or you could teach me to fight monsters."

"If I can't stand I can't teach you," I pointed out. _Don't even know why Percy would tell him to use a knife. Knives are way too hard to use._

 **Then give him your sword.**

 _Nobody can ever use my sword._

 **I saw a car that looked almost like mine. Bobby pointed it out. It even has a New York licenses plate.**

 _Where did you see it?_

 **A demolition parking lot.**

 _THE CHALLENGE! HEPHAESTUS WAS REFERRING TO YOUR CAR! THEY'RE GONNA DESTROY YOUR CAR UNLESS WE FIX IT!_

 **Not Annie! What're we gonna do?**

 _Duh. We're gonna break into the parking lot and fix your car in the middle of the night and high tail it out of this place._


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Sorry I'm not a cars person, so forgive me and my mistakes with the car parts. This is a long one! Kinda a little dirty but it's funny. At least I think so. Although you're not supposed to laugh at your own jokes...But I'm not saying them, so...**

 **Majority of the pick up lines from** _kryssythefab_ **on** Wattpad.,

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

Do you know how hard it is to change when your leg is slightly numb and your arm is almost completely numb? Why do I always start with a question? Anyway, I refused to get any help while I changed. And the whole time I hobbled around the little room, the twins tried not to laugh and Percy watched me with an evil smirk. **I was right!** _Just help me get my sneakers on._ I sat down on the bed, **you're also pouting.**

Percy came over and helped me get into my converse, then pulled me onto my feet. The plan was simple: Mathew and Bobby would stay in the motel while Percy and I went to demolition parking lot. Apparently, Mathew and Bobby took vigorous computers class and hacked the security system. For some reason, a demolition parking lot had security cameras **What if someone steals a car?** _Like we're doing?_ **Ssh**.

So we'd check Percy car, do what we can and get the heck out of there. Since I was saving my strength for the actual hard part, Percy was carrying me on his back. You're probably wondering how we'll communicate. Don't worry about the walkie talkies we stole from Jason/Piper's room. Evil smile.

Okay, random thought: Percy's hair smells like the ocean.

 **I use orangy shampoo. I'm trying to get rid of the sea smell.**

 _It's not working. Plus, sea smelling is your thing. It works for you._

 **Does it?**

 _Yea. It's makes the whole, sea demigod thing even more cute on you._

 **Cute? That's all I get?**

 _Absolutely phenomenally cute._

 **I could drop you.**

 _But you wouldn't._

 **I would not. We're here.**

"Security's going down," Bobby said with static in the background. "I can only keep it down for five minutes at a time."

"Let me know when we're at the one minute mark." I responded.

"Aye aye." he responded.

Percy put me down, then looked around before climbing the gate. It wasn't a very high gate, thank gods. Percy was on the other side. He snaked his hands through the holes and cupped them. I used his hands as a boost and jumped up, praying to my mother that I wouldn't get cut. After we both made it over the fence, I grabbed Percy's arm and put on my Yankees cap. That's how we both turned invisible.

We moved from the concrete to the dirt, where the cars were. "Where'd you go?" Mathew asked.

"Just invisible." I said.

"With security down, the car should be unlocked. Get it out of its locks before the security comes back up."

It's not very hard finding a red Maserati spyder in a parking lot filled with old, beaten up cars. The hard part is pushing it out of its opened locks so you don't have to worry about them later. I mostly just stood to the side and encouraged Percy. But unfortunately, Percy isn't very strong. **Yes I am!** It was really sad watching him pushing with all his might and nothing.

"You know what would help?" I said to him.

"If you helped?"

"No. Putting the car in neutral." I think Percy was actually really mad. He took a deep breath before going to the side and changing it to neutral. It moved a lot more easily. _He's such a Seaweed Brain._ That earned a glare from Percy. I didn't even think Percy knew how to glare. I moved to the fron while he popped the hood.

"One minute." Bobby said over the walkie talkie.

I put my Yankees cap on while Percy sat in the car, turning up the Mist levels. It was just a struggle for me to see it. I'm no child of Hephaestus, but I do know my way around a car. I don't even know how a centaur managed to do that kind of damage, but it was an easy fix. **Annabeth's a mechanic?**

 _No dum dum._

 **Dum dum? And how do you know what you're doing?**

 _Live read every book about mechanics and cars out there, and Leo taught me a few tricks before he blew up his car._

 **That sounds believable.**

 _Some water sir. You need to replace the water._

Percy got out of the car, walking to me. Or to the general direction of me. And because he wasn't invisible anymore, the alarm blared. I literally face palmed, pulling off my hat. "We're busted!" I shouted, at Percy and into the walkie talkie. Percy gave me an apologetic look.

"We can't shut off the alarm," Mathew yelled.

I grabbed Percy's hand and jammed his finger into the water slot. "Ow!" I shushed him, giving him a stern look. _Water. Now_. After a few seconds, I pulled his hand out. _Get in the car and try the engine again._ He nodded, moving quickly to the driver's side. He turned the key from the outside then jumped over the door, sliding into his seat. He pressed the gas as the sound of police sirens started faintly.

"It's good." I said, slamming the hood shut. "Get the stuff in the motel room and meet us at the exit. Check out and hurry. We're leaving tonight." I shouted into the walkie talkie.

I moved as quickly as I could and it in the seat next to Percy. He flipped the switch for the hood, rolling up our windows. I reached over and turned on the Mist. "Start driving."

"Yes ma'am," Percy said. "We have enough Mist to get us 300 to 350 miles. We'd need to find a service station so I can get a refil."

"Go back to the motel first." I order as he finished adjusting his mirrors.

"What was the issue?" Percy asked.

"I'm not a mechanic," I said. She said she knows a little about cars. "Overheated engine, empty water tank, oil change, and some hoove prints."

"Hey," he said, slight amusement in his voice. He crashed through the gate but didn't even seem to notice. "I need some coolant, because you've got my engine overheating."

Dear gods. He knows mechanic pick up lines.

"Do want me to tape those headlights for you?" I stared at him in shock, a small blush on my cheeks.

"Don't say that again."

"If you were a car door, I'd slam you all night long."

"Percy." I warned.

"You've a beautiful chassis, two lovely airbags and a fantastic bumper."

"Percy."

"Hey baby, wanna come back to my place? I'll have you purring like a Diesel engine from 0-60 in 6.2 seconds."

"I said."

"Can you help me reconfigure my GPS system? I need directions to get into your pants."

"Stop!" I yelled, punching his arm hard. He swerved a little, nearly hitting another car. That would've been bad cause we'd be out of a car and the person would be totally confused.

"You didn't like my 'pick up' lines." I glared at him and he stopped laughing. "What? They were good."

"They were disgusting." I said.

"You totally wanna be with me now." Percy said. "One more?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with blue cookies on top?"

"Fine."

"I'd love to jack you up and check out your undercarriage."

I gave him a hard glare and he laughed. **She's too cute.** "I'm just messin' with you, Annabeth.

"I'm not cute, I'm either beautiful or hot." I said jokingly, making him laugh.

"Are you serious? You guys are running from the police and flirting!" Bobby yelled.

"We're driving." I corrected.

"Annabeth!"

"Yea, when we pull up, jump in." I told them.

"Hey Annabeth," Percy said, glancing at me. "If I put my key in your ignition, will it turn you on."

"No." I said, trying to hide my smile. "Hey, son of Poseidon."

"You've got a pick up line?" I nodded eagerly.

"Leo told it to me." I said. He groaned.

"Dear gods." he muttered.

"You must be a son of Poseidon cause you make me so _wet_." I burst into laughter as Percy blushed furiously.

"Damn Annabeth." he muttered, then start chuckling. "That was good."

"Even cyclops wouldn't be able to resist your burning hotness." I said.

"Where are you getting these? Do you have more?"

"You must be a child of Poseidon because your sex-sea."

"You're cornier than Jason." he said, rolling his eyes.

"My love for you will end when Apollo makes a good haiku." An arrow flew past the windshield, almost breaking it.

"No more offending Apollo." I nodded, then started laughing.

 **Annabeth is slightly more normal than me.**

 _One more._

"Who's needs Blackjack—" I paused to giggle. "When I can just ride you."

"Di immortales," Percy said. I was dying of laughter while Percy put the cover down. He slowed to almost a stop while the twins jumped in over the door, then sped through the streets.

Ω

Madison, Wisconsin: 9:42 am

Where am I? Why do I keep waking up in strange places? This would be the perfect start of a chapter. Anyway, it smelled, some nasty water just dripped on my forehead. And now I noticed some water trickling down the side of my face and my stomach. And it was super hot. And something was close to my ear—wait a minute. Hot, strange place, water. I tried to move and realized I was wrapping in arms.

"Percy," I grumbled, trying to move out of his arms.

"Five more minutes." Percy said in a sleepy voice, pulling me closer.

"No." I whined, fighting against him. _Why was he so strong!_

"Deal with it babe." he mumbled, pulling me back into him. I turned around so I was facing him. He gave a me a sleepy smile, opening his eyes.

"Good morning." Percy said. "You're all wet." Son of Poseidon.

"Because of you." I said, pinching his arm. "I didn't mean that joke literally."

"Ha ha ha." he said sarcastically. "You guys fell asleep in the car last night so I had to take four trips to get the you and the boys and the stuff in here, and there were only two beds and a couch. So Mathew's on the couch and Bobby's on the other bed."

"Not only do you drool, but your hands slowly leak water now." I pointed out. He smiled to himself.

 _ **I** (as in Percy, not me) **looked over the ocean view before me. I then left the window open, letting the sea breeze blow in, making the light blue drapes flutter. I then moved to the king sized bed in the center of the room, seeing Annabeth laying there, looking at me with a smile. She had one had propping her head up and the other placed the small head of the beautiful little blonde sleeping next to her.**_

 _ **"Staring out the window at six am isn't good." she informed me.**_

 _ **"Let's go swimming today." I said.**_

 _ **"We went swimming yesterday," she whined.**_

 _ **"That's the whole point of having a house on the beach." I pointed out. "We can play in the water, visit some underwater caves and such. We can have a water fight."**_

 _ **"With what?" she asked, hiding her smile.**_

 _ **"I can use my fingers." I pointed finger guns at her then up a little so a spray of water arched around her.**_

 _ **"We aren't doing any of those things, because it's the first day of kindergarten." she said the last part in a baby voice, tickling the child in her arms.**_

I looked at Percy, who was giving me a smile. I gave him a smile back, hugging him. He pulled the blanket up closer, kissing the top of my head. "More sleep." Percy said in a tired voice.

"No more sleep." **SHIT!**

 _Language!_

Percy almost fell off the bed if I wasn't hugging him. Why does he always roll that way? I turned around and standing in the middle of the room was the God of the Sky, Zeus. "Why did you leave Michigan?" Zeus boomed.

"Cause there were police after us." I said.

"Well now you're beating Jason and Piper." Zeus said. "And, since you made that last stunt so excited, Apollo went ahead and healed Annabeth." He didn't sound very happy, he actually sounded mad.

 **I think he is mad.**

"Are you mad?" Percy asked.

"Yes." Zeus said. "But never mind that. My challenge is simple: you have to catch a bolt of lightning and bring it to me, in Olympus, by midnight of Saturday."

"A bolt of lightning!" Percy exclaimed, making Zeus smirk.

"You're never going to win." Zeus said, heading out the door.

 **How in Hades are we gonna catch a bolt of lightning!**

 _It must be possibly since Chiron approved it._

 **We could die! Neither of us are Jason, we, or more precisely you, can't survive that kinda of thing. Maybe for a little me.**

 _Let's wait for the boys to wake up and hear their ideas._


	26. Chapter 26

This is crazy. I'm driving in a car full of three crazy boys. When Zeus sai by Saturday, you probably thought Oh yea! It's probably Tuesday or Monday! It was Thursday. We have three fucking days to catch a bolt of lightning. So Mathew had the bright idea that we could be like Benjamin Franklin or who ever found electricity with a kite. Get a metal rod, connect it to an insulated conductor (a wire) speed all the way to New York.

Where can you find a bolt of lightning? A thunderstorm, duh. So, we went to the only logical place in the country, Seattle. It isn't known for being rainy for nothing. We got lucky for once, when we found that it was gonna be raining all week. And we got a nicer motel with two rooms. For the first time in the whole game, I had a dream.

 _I was standing in a sand, looking out into the ocean. I looked to my right, seeing Aphrodite watching me. Someone took my left hand, and I looked over and saw it was Percy. When I looked back at Aphrodite, there was a young boy, around ten or eleven, standing next to her. His name was Bryson, he was a son of Aphrodite. "You two have come very far." Bryson said. "The games make Hephaestus tv interesting, and Chiron lets us watch instead of activities some times. You're probably still confused for why Jason and Piper were being so weird. It's because I had the idea to switch their bodies."_

 _"When you wake up, you'll understand each other in more ways than thoughts." Aphrodite said._

I was confused. I woke up on the other side of the room, looking at the other wall. I felt weird. Like really weird. I raised my hand to my face to rub the sleep away, only to look and see that it was not my abnormally small hand. So what if my hand is tiny! Anyway, I moved onto my back and yawned, rubbing my legs to wake them up. Okay, why were they so hairy? I mean, I know I haven't shaved since before the games, like a month ago, which is cool because my blonde leg hair kinds blends with my skin, but they should not be this hairy. And why was it so cold? The blanket was ruffled and moved off of me, but—where is my shirt? Where are my boobs?

…oh crap. Please no. I froze rising really slowly. I sat up and saw…myself?

"Percy?" I said, my voice low.

"Annabeth?" the person who looked exactly like me said.

We stared at each other. It was like looking at a mirror. Then I got up and looked in the real mirror, almost tripping over my own abnormally long legs. I saw Percy. Shit, Bryson and Aphrodite had switched our bodies.

The first thing that happened was the scream. Percy screamed first. **Who? What? Where? When? Why?**

 _Okay, let's see. Who, Aphrodite and Bryson. What, they switched our bodies. Where, in a dream or something. When, at night. Why, because everyone just wants to make life ten times harder than it needs to be._

 **I can't be Annabeth! I wasn't made to be a girl! I was born with no girl parts, I'm not gonna be a girl! Especially Annabeth. I'd rather be a Guinea pig.**

 _What does that mean?_

 **It means that I'd rather not be in the body of my girlfriend.**

 _This could be a story we tell our children._

 **Our children? You see me in your future?**

 _YOU LITERALLY HAD A FUTURE DREAM OF US WITH A CHILD. HERA SAID WE WERE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER._

 **Don't kill me.**

 _And to top it all off, we can still hear each other's thoughts._

I sat up, putting my head in my hands. "Di immortales." I muttered. "I need to be me again. I'm just guessing that once we get Zeus a bolt, this will end."

I pointed at Percy, making him jump slightly. "Get up. You are not taking a shower. Go brush."

"Do I have to remind you that you were flashing you—"

"Shut it Jackson." I hissed. "Ha, you've got to deal with my period."

"Yea but you're on your pain medicine." he said proudly. "And I'm an amazing actor."

I rolled my eyes as he got up, walking to the bathroom. "Don't mess with my body either!" I called, making him laugh.

 **All I'm doing is brushing my—er—your teeth.**

 _Two minutes._

 **Until I feel like it.**

 _No, you're in my body, where I care about my dental hygiene._

 **I care about my dental high—high gea—what you said.**

 _You can't say hygiene?_

Maybe.

"Morning Perce." Bobby said, walking in with Mathew behind him. Crappity crap.

"Percy? Are you okay?" Mathew asked.

"ThiskidfromtheAphroditecabinswitchedourbodiesinthemiddleofthenightsonowI'mAnnabethandPercyisinmybody." I said quickly.

"Slow down." Mathew said.

I took a deep breath. "This kid from the Aphrodite cabin switched our bodies in the middle of the night so now I'm Annabeth and Percy is in my body." I said slower.

"Cool," Bobby said.

"I was wondering why he was feeling his abs." Mathew said.

"I am not!"

"Yes you are," Bobby said, pointing.

"Oh, whoops," I said, moving my hands. "But come on, Percy's abs could have their own national park."

"Definitely Annabeth." Mathew mumbled.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Nothing," they quickly said as Percy stepped out.

"Go brush milady," Percy said, which to an observer would've looked and sounded weird. "You can take as long as you want." I rolled my eyes as I went into the bathroom.

I had brushed for two minutes everyday of my life, so I didn't even need a timer to know how long it took. Then, I used some mouth rinse before going back outside. When I got there, Percy was tying my sneakers. He was already dressed! **You were gone forever. I didn't wanna wait.** Percy tossed me a black tee shirt and jeans. "Put those on." he said.

"Let's go over some rules of being in my body." I said after I got dressed.

"There's always rules." Percy groaned.

"Don't touch anything," I warned. "Or I will kill you. And don't play those smartass games either. You know what I mean. No hitting on girls by accident."

"I didn't hit on girls on purpose, except you." Percy said.

"If any guys flirt with you, which is highly unlikely, ignore it." I said.

"Yea yea." Percy said. "Now rules for being in my body."

"They're probably stupid." I muttered.

"I heard that." I rolled my eyes. "Don't flirt with guys."

"I have never flirt with anyone, excluding last night." I said.

"If any girls hit on you, which is not surprising because of my extreme hotness that makes me hotter than Leo, ignore it and tell them who my girlfriend is."

"Who's Leo and why is he hot?" Bobby asked.

"He's this kid from camp and he can control fire." I explained.

"Stop acting like such a girl."

"Excuse me!" I exclaimed, putting my hands on my hips and making Percy's voice go a little high.

"Never make my voice go high like that. Ever." Percy said. "And that, that little hands on hip thing, is a big no. And how you sway your hips when you walk, don't do that."

I sway my hips when I walk?

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Uh." he stammered, blushing. _Damn, I look_ ugly _when I blush._

"Tsk tsk Jackson. Checking out my ass? Why am I not surprised?"

He was stuttering, which was also not a pretty sound. "Anything else?" I asked, bailing him out.

"Not now." Percy said. "Let's work on the Lightning thing. Can I still control water?"

"I dunno." I said. "Try it."

 **The bathroom pipes. Six, maybe seven for the sink and shower. Water's rushing through the pipes. The poor landlord who'll have to fix these busted pipes. Water, rushing furiously to me. Pooling at our feet.**

I jumped onto a chair, because there was water flooding in from the bathroom. "Yea, I guess my abilities transferred too." Percy said.

"Thank gods, I didn't want to have to catch lightning." I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Let's just go. We have only like two days to get lightning and get to Manhattan." Bobby said.

Ω

You would think that since I was in Percy's body, I'd get to drive. Well you're wrong. **You don't have a driver's license!** If someone could see our car, it'd look like two kids goofing off in the backseat, a cute blonde chick driving, and a smug, pouty, upset, and everything else about how angry I was looking guy sitting in the passenger seat. **I'm a cute blonde chick?**

 _I'm a cute blonde chick. You're a poser._

 **You're a handsome devil, I'm a cute blonde chick.**

 _Sure. When this is over, I'm getting a driver's license._

 **I don't know why you didn't get one before.**

 _See, the problem is, I'd need my birth certificate. I don't really have one._

 **You don't?**

 _I'm a brain kid. I wasn't born._

 **How do you apply for anything?**

 _I have a SSN, just not a birth certificate._

 **You'd just need a official record of your date of birth—or made. I dunno. Maybe there's a deity you can talk to about that. Like your mother.**

 _That's not happening._

Percy shrugged, then went back to singing along to the radio.

* * *

 **A/N: So...not the best, but I'm trying to stretch this out. So, two things. One, I'm taking ideas for the last challenge, the Demeter challenge. Make it as hard as you want. Two, I've been sitting on an idea for a story for a while. And I was thinking about making the idea into a sequel to this story. Should I? Lemme know.**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	27. Chapter 27

1) I was glad I didn't have to catch the lightning. 2) I was upset that Percy was catching it. **You care about me?** _What? no. I care about me. You're in_ my _body. What if your incredible heat and extra stamina didn't transfer and you kill me!_ **I will not kill you. I love your body. *gives girlfriend seductive look*** _Di immortales._

I was in a rain coat with Percy and the twins, walking through a muddy field. Percy was holding his pen, looking at it. I looked at the twins. Bobby had the metal rod and Mathew had the conductor and glass box. In the time it took me to watch my brothers, Percy cried out in pain. I whipped my head around to look at him, seeing him holding Riptide. "Fuck Annabeth! You don't have sword muscles?"

Basically, Percy was mocking my lack of arm strength. My sword is specially light-weighed so that I could hold it, because I used a knife majority and I didn't really have as much upper body strength as the others. Especially Percy, who's sword is five fucking pounds. I took the sword from him, which was nice and perfect. "Use the Drakon-Bone Sword. It's lighter." I said, capping Riptide.

"Gods, need to start giving you heavy swords," Percy muttered as he pulled out my sword. "You guys stay here. Don't want you getting hit by lightning."

The boys handed over the supplies and Percy jogged further away. Let me be honest, from where I am, I can see why Percy is always checking out my butt. My butt and legs look amazing!

 **Annabeth**.

 _Fine_.

Percy set everything up, then discarded the rain coat, since it was just for show. He then started to pull the rain on the ground, surrounding him. We were doing everything that's advised to not do during a lightning storm. There were trees, standing water, we were outdoors. It was as if Zeus heard my prayers for this to be done with and took pity on me. At that moment, thunder roared loudly.

"What're you kids doing!" Damn it, we were caught.

A crackle of lightning rang from the sky, hitting the metal rod exactly. It went straight through and into the glass box, where it bounced around inside. Percy shrieked (which sounded so weird) before he collapsed on the ground. "Percy!" I was running to him as my brothers screamed out his name, then started running after me.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Did I listen? No. I was way to focused on the fact that Percy's thoughts were no longer in my head and he was unconscious on the ground. "You guys get the lightning, I'll get Percy." They nodded, closing off the box. I scooped up Percy, who's hair looked horrible. Honestly, I'd need to spend five minutes with the Aphrodite cabin to get it fixed. The tips were burnt from the chimera, it was frizzy from the rain, and now it stuck out everywhere from the lightning.

"Gods Perce, if you die I am not going to live the rest of my life in your body." I muttered, standing up.

"You're funny," came the faint voice of Percy, who was me. "You know that Annabanana." Percy cracked a slight smile. Still no thoughts though.

"You look like me Annie." He poked my face, squinting at me.

I got up and turned around, seeing Bobby and Mathew staring at the crept old man who had yelled at us earlier. He gave a creepy, crazy smirk at me. "Well lookie here, if it isn't Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. What brings you to Seattle?"

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Oh you don't know me." he said, waving me off. "I'm Gerald Van Vincinet, Legacy of Poseidon. I know all that stuff. My momma was one of the last kids of the Big Three before they did that silly pack."

"Well I guess it's nice to meet you." I said.

"Now answer my question. What brings you here?"

"We're doing a Godly Scavnger Hunt and one thing we needed was to catch a bolt of lightning." I explained.

"Also, they've switch bodies." Bobby said.

"Silly spiky." Percy said, laughing.

"Shut up Percy! Your making me look crazy." I hissed.

"Annabanana is a meanie Spiky." Percy said.

"We need to get back to Manhattan by midnight on Saturday." Mathew said. "We're Annabeth's half-brothers, I'm Mathew and he's Bobby."

"You kids can spend the night at my place and head out in the morning." Gerald said. "I've got some nectar for that lightning burn."

If I wasn't a demigod, I would have never gotten in his truck and went back to his home. But hey, us demigods and legacies need to stick together. Gerald had a wife, who was a legacy of Athena, and they had a daughter who was finishing up extra college.

The next morning, I woke up in excruciating pain. Okay, so there was the period pain, the pain from fighting a Chimera without a bra on, and now this new pain, which was everywhere. I sat up and squinted, facing a mirror. I was me! That should be good, right? But I had screamed out in pain from the rush of sitting up and the pain of everywhere.

"Dear gods Annabeth! Don't kill yourself." Percy exclaimed, rushing to me and pushing me back down. He was him again. "We switched back last night. And you were knocked out all day. It's a little after midnight, the night before Saturday."

"You tried to kill me?" I asked.

"No! I just didn't want to overdose the nectar." Percy said. "And I'm really sorry about your hair too."

"Well, let's go back to New York." I said.

"You could barely sit up." Percy argued.

"I don't care." I said. "I'm gonna win." **I kinda wanna kiss her.**

"Go ahead," I whispered. "Even though you tried to kill me." He laughed lightly, before softly pressing his lips to mine. He pulled back a moment later, smiling at me.

"Okay, we can go now." Percy said. "I'll go wake up the twins and than thank Gerald. You do not move. I took away your sword too. Stay."

"Yea yea." I said as he got up. He disappeared into the darkness. The only light was the constant crackling and movement in the glass box with a lightning bolt in it.


	28. Chapter 28

We were just outside of the tunnel that led into Manhattan. Percy pulled over to the side, putting the car in park. "Why are we stopping?" I asked. "We have less than an hour or we're out." Percy unbuckled his seat belt, turning to me.

"You're gonna drive." Percy said.

"I'm gonna die." Bobby mumbled.

"I am? I thought I couldn't drive your car?" I asked.

"Come on, bring us home." Percy said.

"No time to make love in the front seat, switch and drive." Mathew exclaimed. We quickly switch.

I haven't gotten a chance to practice since I was home during the spring. And when I wasn't studying for the DTSOMPS, or the Demigod Standard Tests of Mad Power, and the SATs

 **Wait a minute. There is a test that I have to take for being a Demigod? Along with the SATs?**

 _Yes_.

 **I'm never getting into college.**

So when I'm not studying, I'm usually boosting my after school activities. So driving isn't somethings do often. I looked over at Percy, who was wishing he didn't have a convertible so there was something for him to hold on to. "You know the basics, right?" Percy asked, slightly nervous.

"You guys need to relax, geez." I said, gripping the steering wheel. I switch the car to drive, made sure it was clear enough and then merged back onto the road. "You can speed up." Percy informed me.

"I'm about to enter the city, so I'm not changing my speed," I said.

"But—"

"Do not tell me how to drive, I'm the driver now." I exclaimed, interrupting him.

I am still pretty bad with directions around these parts, so Percy did have to help me out. I parked along the cub, and Percy let out a berth he'd been holding. He looked up at the sky. "Thank you, thank all the gods. I'm alive!" I shot him a look and he paled. "Not for long." he added quietly.

The four of us got out, then walked quickly to the entrance. "So how do we get up there?" Bobby asked. "And if it's magical, is it gonna take more than eleven minutes cause that's how long we have."

"Can they even come up?" Percy asked.

"We just have to grant the, permission. Like how I let Tyson into camp, and how Rachel got up with the help of Chiron." I explained. I turned to my brothers, taking a deep breath. **It's not likes she's gonna kill them. We're running out of time.**

"I, Annabeth Chase, grant you two permission to enter Mount Olympus."

"I don't feel any different." Mathew said.

"Come on." Percy said, pushing us into the elevator. He slipped a gold drachma into the new coin slot, which sent us rocketing up to the 600th floor.

"Woah." Mathew said.

"Zeus is usually in the Throne Room. Come on!" I said, then started running down the paths. **For someone who was electrocuted a few days ago, she's sure energetic.**

They were right behind me as we ran past temples, deities, and sacred beings. I knew this place, and it's short cuts, like the back of my hand, since I rebuilt it. We had to duck through the aquarium, where Poseidon was lounging around. Strange. **I know right**. Then we went past the sun chariot, which was recharging not I guess. There was the library, which Percy had to drag me out of before we lost time. Then finally, we got to the Throne Room.

"We got the lightning!" Percy and I yelled, just as the bell rung, signaling midnight.

Zeus looked up at us and sighed, rolling his eyes. "I guess since you technically got here before midnight, I'll have to except it." he said.

"This place is huge!" Bobby yelled, his voice echoing.

"Mortals," Zeus muttered rather loudly. "Go and find Demeter. And leave the lightning."

 **Where do we find Demeter?**

 _I know. She'll most likely be in the garden or Cereal Museum._

 **There's a Cereal Museum?**

 _Yea. That was a requirement from Demeter._

 **Let's check the garden.**

I started leading them to the garden. We'd been awake in a car all day, so getting there was a very slow trip. Mostly Percy, since he was the one driving most of the way and he had to drive at night, in the dark when it's harder to see the signs; especially with dyslexia. At one point, the three of us had to drag Percy to the garden. Surely enough, Demeter was there.

"The first one's here." Demeter said. "On your last challenge. It's more like a questionnaire than a challenge, but still."

"Can we get some sleep first? I don't have the mental stability to answer questions." Percy said, then yawned.

"No." Demeter said. "First question." I'm not prepared for a quiz!

Classic Athenian kid.

"Percy, why are you a greater hero than Hercules?" Demeter asked.

"I did everything he did way younger than he was when he did, and I'm not a jerk." Percy said.

"Why are you greater than the original Perseus?"

"Same thing with Hercules, and he was with a mortal princess. I'm with a Demi-Goddess." Demeter actually chuckled.

"Why are you better than Annabeth?"

 **Crap on a cracker.**

"Uh...I...I'm not." Percy said.

"What?" Demeter asked.

"I'm not better than Annabeth. If anything, she's better than me." Percy said. "It wasn't my knife that saved Olympus, it was hers. The only reason I wanted to live was because of her. She's smarter, stronger, faster, and everything better than me."

 _I am not._

 **Yes you are. Trust me.**

 _You're the Hero. I'm the smart side-kick you makes sure you don't die. Your title is literally the Hero of Olympus._

"Annabeth, why do you think Athena chose you to find the Parthenon?"

Because she wanted to kill me. "She believed I was smart enough to do what no other child of Athena did."

"Why did you chose your brothers to come with you?"

"They were the first clear-sighted mortals we thought of."

"Do you think you're better than Percy?"

"Never in a million years." I said without a thought. "He's done many great things. Greater than I've ever done."

"But I did them because you helped me." Percy argued.

"Are we seriously arguing about this?" I asked. _It's kind of a stupid fight._

 **And pointless.**

 _So we're in an agreement?_

 **Absolutely**.

"This is getting boring." Demeter said. "Let's do something more...fun." She clapped her hands twice, and instantly we were in a different area.

 **Where are we, Wise Girl?**

It's like, a fighting arena. There were stands all around, and Percy and I were in the middle, on opposite sides of the sandy pit. There were four posts around the arena, and tied across were Bobby and Mathew, both on different posts. The stands were filled with a bunch of people; deities, nature spirits, water spirits, etcetera. They were all rowdy and cheering. In a little box between two posts were the Olympians.

If you're confused: the Olympians can take on multiple forms at once. So they might be giving someone their next clue as we speak, but still have a form here.

Demeter stood up, smiling proudly. "For your final challenge, you must prove you're the best."

Two steel gates rose, and you could see two pairs of red eyes light up in the darkness. "Fight the Hercules and Perseus androids, and win!" Demeter concluded.

 **Holy shit.**

 _Crap on a cracker._

* * *

 **A/N: So...the crap on a cracker line I got from this tv show: The Middle. Yea, love that show.**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: First third-person POV all story! Also, don't expect there to be a lot of action, cause I'm not good at that. This is technically the last chapter. But after this chapter, there are gonna be little one shot fill ins before the next story. Be on the look out for it. It'll be called: When Gods Come to Play.**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

Percy and Annabeth watched as the androids stepped out from the darkness. It was just then that they noticed they were in battle armor. _That is some nice accuracy._ Along their right foot was the logo of Hephaestus. **Figures he'd make the androids.**

 _You take Hercules, I take Perseus._

 **I wanna fight me!**

 _No!_

Annabeth gripped her sword tightly, charging across to the Perseus android. In response, the android raised its sword. **Front roll.** Just as the android's sword was about to hit her next, Annabeth ducked down and rolled forward, her sword clashing against the metal leg. The android fell face first on the ground. It sprung to back its feet and point another sword at Annabeth.

Percy had learned that the androids also had, to some extent, the abilities of the actual hero. Percy could see the actual hero, Hercules, in the stands, watching intensely. _Do what you do best, Seaweed Brain._ **What's that?** _Be annoying! No offense or anything._ No matter how unlikely it was, Percy did what he was told, hoping the android could respond. "This is just gonna be too easy." Percy taunted.

"What does that mean?" Hercules' voice came from the android.

"Beating you of course." Percy said. "I could do it in my sleep. After all, I am better than you."

"I strangled snakes when I was a baby." Hercules said, anger growing in his voice.

"So did I." Percy responded. "My mom freaked when I did that."

"I fought the Nemean lion."

"No effing way! I was like, fourteen when I did?"

"I fought a hydra."

"Same bro. Although, I did need Clarisse's help. But still."

"I hunted down Artemis's sacred dear."

"Oh, my friend did that. I don't hunt animals."

"I fought this massive boar once."

"No way! I think I go its girlfriend. That was around the time I fought Kronos."

"I cleaned stables of man eating horse that wasn't cleaned for thousands of years."

"Yea...I heard a nymph helped you. I used my own powers." _You're doing great at being annoying!_

"I..."

"Dude, I could go all day."

"I fought the amazons."

"Been there."

"I killed the Minotaur."

"I was like, twelve. And I didn't use a sword."

"I..."

Percy arched a taunting eyebrow.

"I've been to the Underworld and back."

"Man, I'm so sick of that place. First my buddy almost gets dragged to Tartarus, Hades tries to keep me locked down there, I fall into Tartarus with my girlfriend. I've had my share of the underworld."

"I.."

"I..uh...I." Percy taunted.

"I was offered immortality!" Hercules said triumphantly.

"Been there. I give it up for this girl I really liked." Percy said. "My bro Jason tells me you hate it, so I'm glad I did take it. Oh I also bathed in the River Styx, fought Kronos and Gaea, and saved the world twice. Although I couldn't have don't it without my friends, including Annabeth."

With one powerful swing of his sword, the baffled android head flew off the body, making it crumble to the ground. While Percy was getting on the last nerve of Hercules, Annabeth had skillfully disarmed the Perseus android. One of its swords had clattered five yards away, out of reach. She held onto the other, which she dug into the ground as support for when she kicked down the android. She then used her own sword to dig it into the metal chest, shutting off the main power system.

The audience stared at the two teenagers in complete silence and shock. **Beating Hercules was easy. Although I think I'm on his bad side.** _No surprise there, you're on a lot of people's bad sides._ **Not yours though.** Demeter stood, snapped her fingers.

Percy, Annabeth, Bobby, and Mathew were outside the Empire State Building.

Ω

The grand prize was (1) one of the members gets to be lead cabin in Capture the Flag for the rest of the summer, (2) not having dish duty ever, and (3) a once a week free pass from any activity. It was the day after they returned. Percy was waiting for Annabeth on the beach, ready to teach her to swim. Since the game was over, their ability to hear each other's thoughts was quickly diminishing. It wasn't completely gone yet, but it was barely there.

Annabeth came jogging over. She had on the swimsuit she bought in Miami and purple flip flops. Her usually long hair was cut to shoulder length, the curls still bouncy. Percy stood to greet her, and she stopped, fiddling with her fingers. "Hey." Annabeth said nervously.

"You cut your hair?" Percy asked.

"Uh...yeah?" Annabeth said. "It's just that it was all burnt and the the ends were crispy and it was frizzy and beyond salvation—"

Percy cut her off with a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled back, caressing her cheek. "It looks nice." Percy whispered. "I just never thought you'd cut it short."

"You like it?"

"It doesn't matter if I like it. It matters if you like it." Percy said.

"I guess I do." Annabeth said.

"Than I love it. Now come on. Let's go—" Grover ran past them, then stopped at looked at them.

"Guys, Jason and Piper got back." Grover said, slightly out of breath. "And they brought a new camper."

"That's great." Percy said with a smile.

"Not great." Grover said. "It's a six year old daughter of Zeus."

"Six years would be in violation of the Big Three Pact." Annabeth said.

"Exactly." Grover said.


	30. Julie's Story Pt 1

**A/N: So here's part one for the little small section for Julie, the new demigod. Enjoy enjoy enjoy!**

* * *

Jason's POV

Percy and Annabeth had already won. There was no second place, we were just told to head back to camp. Of course, Piper insisted on us visiting the zoo. We were in San Francisco, and the zoo was nice and close. We looked at the animals, went to the gift shop, and now we were eating lunch. Up until we heard the shrill scream of a little kid. I looked at Piper, who was already reaching for her sword. I grabbed Ivlivs, which had been recently recovered. We go up and ran towards the screaming.

In the lion area was a nemean lion, currently chewing out a little boy. There were a few pieces of children surrounding him, and about two or three kids running around in terror. I threw Ivlivs up, praying for heads. I grabbed the sword out of the air, then ran towards the monster. Piper was already trying to stab it, even though we knew it had a bullet proof and sword proof pelt. I cast down a lightning bolt on its head, making it screech at me.

What did Percy say? Something about him and Thalia killing it by the mouth. "Piper! The mouth!" I called. She nodded in understanding, and another bolt landed on its head. "Come and get me!" I yelled at the lion, flying up to its face. It tried to snap at its leg, and Piper's sword sailed past my feet and into the mouth.

After the lion turned to dust, I put my coin back in my pocket, touching on the ground. There was a little girl staring at us with wide eyes. She had blonde braided pigtails and bright blue eyes. She had a cut on her right temple with blood slowly dripping down. Piper and I went over to her, and she backed up slightly. "You guys killed the mean monster." she said. "With lightning and sword! Why did you sword turn into a coin?"

"I didn't know you could do lightning bolts in five minutes." Piper whispered to me.

"I only did one," I told her.

"Then where'd the other one come from?"

"And you can fly! That's so cool!" the little girl said. I looked back at her and then stared wide-eyed.

"You see that too?" I asked Piper, and she nodded. The little girl looked up, then back at me, confused.

"Come with us." I told her. "We need to get you out of here before more monsters come."

"Ms. Hermine said not to follow strangers to a second location." the little girl said. "You might kill me with you swords."

"Listen. Monsters, bad. Us, good. We're here to protect you." I said.

"We'll get you somewhere safe. I promise." Piper said.

"You look honest. I'm going because you're going."

"What's your name, sweetie?" Piper asked as we started heading towards the exit.

"You first." she said.

"I'm Piper and he's Jason. We're like you, ya know."

"ADHD and dyslexia." I said.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"You know that thing that was over you? It told us." Piper said. "So what's your name?"

"Juliette Williams, but everyone calls me Julie." she said. "It's my Mommy's last name. We lived on a little island off in the pacific until Mommy got cancer and needed treatment here. She died earlier this year and that was my kindergarten foster care group." Julie said.

"Did your Mommy ever talk about her family?" I asked.

"She said when she was six she went to a boarding school, and when she was eleven her parents died so she lived with her friend."

"Do you know anything about Greek mythology?" Piper asked.

"Yep. There was this kid who read to me every day from his book of Greek myths for kids." Julie said.

"And would you believe that myths are real?" I asked.

"Possibly."

"You know about Hercules?" I asked.

"I watched the movie. It was good."

"Well, demigods, gods, monsters, all that is real." Piper said. "We're demigods. You're a demigod too. I'm a daughter of Aphrodite."

"No wonder you're so pretty."

"He's a son of Jupiter."

"Who's Jupiter?"

"He's the Roman form of Zeus." I explained. "That's why I can fly."

"Like superman!"

"Dear gods." I muttered.

"We call him Blonde Superman." Piper said.

"Why?" I whined.

"And you, we're just claimed." Piper continued. "It's when a god recognizes you as their child. You are a daughter of Zeus."

"I can fly too!"

"Most likely," I said. "Now, there is a place that keeps demigods like us safe for a long time."

"Correction, the slogan is 'Keeping Young Heroes Safe from Harm (Mostly) For Over Three Millennia!' It's a very long time."

"And, most of the demigods live to be a teenager." I added encouragingly.

"What about the rest?" Julie asked, slightly nervous.

"Monster attack, gods send us on quests where we perish and die, and some live normal lives." Piper answered nonchalantly.

You're probably wondering why we're taking her all the way to New York instead of just to Camp Jupiter a few miles away? Well, because we want to. Plus, I'm will not very comfortable around Reyna.

"How old are you?" Julie asked.

"Fifteen." I said. "But I turn sixteen—"

"Correction, you turned sixteen. Today's July 2." Piper said. "I'm still fifteen though."

"I'm six." Julie said. "How old's the oldest person there?"

"I think Percy or Annabeth are the oldest." Piper said. "Since Luke and Beckendorf are dead."

"Names I don't know." Julie said.

"They're like, sixteen." Piper said. "But Annabeth turns seventeen in like, a week and a half."

"Come on," I said, picking up Julie. "Let's get you to the safety of Camp Half-Blood." I used my freehand to take Piper's, then flew back to the car.


	31. Annabeth Learns to Swim

**A/N: *cough cough* *achoo!***

 **So, I've been kinda gone for a few days. I had a really bad cold and looking at screens made my head throb and I already had to stare at screens all school day. Yeah, I felt horrible. And now I need to clean my jackets since they have boogers on them. But I'm feeling better and I'm back so.**

 **Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

* * *

 _Day 1_

It was later the day of Jason's return. Percy was dragging me deeper into the water. Yes, he was dragging me. I didn't want to go very deep, but he insisted we couldn't be in the shallow area. **I know what I'm doing, Annabeth!** I had a very strong grip on his shoulder and upper arm. "This should be deep enough." Percy said. I couldn't even see the shore! "Could you let go of my arm?"

"So I can drown!" I exclaimed, hooking my legs around his waist.

"Nah, Dad likes you. He'd never let you die in his domain." Percy said. "Now just let go of me so I can teach you." When I refused again, he began prying my hands off of him.

"Now I know I'm freaking sexy, but now isn't the time for you to have your hands all over me." I hit his shoulder, and he grabbed my wrist.

"Now Annabeth, I know it's scary and all, but trust me. I will not let you drown." Percy said.

"You're lucky I trust you." I grumbled, slowly letting go of him. He held onto my waist while I pulled off of him.

"Okay." Percy said. "First, you should learn to do freestyle. First, get comfortable in the water."

"When did you learn to swim?" I asked.

"I was like, five. It was something they taught the first graders at my school. Before I got kicked out, of course."

"I'm pretty sure they didn't force you into Long Island Sound." I said sourly.

"Trust me, this is much better than a public pool." Percy said. "Especially when you're five and there are a bunch of ice year old boys swimming with you. Nastiest thing ever." I laughed loudly at this, making him do that adorable smile.

"Okay, now I'm gonna put ou on your back. This is just a simple float." Percy said, moving me onto my back.

"Don't let go, okay?" I asked.

"Never." Percy said, kissing my shoulder. "Think of it like this: keep your belly button pointed up, chin above the water. Don't look directly at Apollo darling."

"Why is the water so still?" I asked.

"Because pools have still water." Percy said like it was obvious. **It is obvious.** _You can still hear my thoughts?_ **Yeah baby.**

"Just relax, okay. Don't panic, but I stopped holding you." Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't—

Flip, I panicked. The water was now all around me. I felt Percy grab me from under my arms and pull me back up. "Gods Annabeth, you scared me!" Percy exclaimed. He ran his hand over my forehead, moving my wet hair from my face.

"Next time, just relax. Focus on your breathing. If you start to panic, your body is gonna tense and you'll sink."

 _Day 2_

"Where are we?" I asked Percy.

"More controlled water." Percy said. "This is the pool at Goode. I had to beg the coach to let me come in today."

"You said you'd clean the old jockstraps." the coach called, making me giggle.

"I don't know why you're laughing, you're gonna help me." Percy said.

"No I'm not." I stated.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"N—" he put his finger on my lips, silencing me. I looked at his hand, then glared at him. In one swift motion, I dislocated his arm while shoving him into the pool. He came up a second later, a string of curses in Greek coming from his mouth. I pointed and laughed at him.

"Fuck. What did you do to my arm!" Percy exclaimed.

"Next time, pay attention when I'm teaching you how to dislocate shoulders." I said as he climbed out of the pool.

"Put it back in!" Percy whined.

I smiled evilly. There was a serious of grunts, screams, and curses, I had popped Percy's shoulder back in place. "That's it! We'll just come back tomorrow." Percy said, flexing his arms.

 _Day 3_

"You can feel the pool floor, right?" Percy asked.

"No." I said. "I'm not as tall as you."

"Right shortie." Percy said. "Well since I'm nice and tall, I can stand in the six feet. It's just a few inches. Take in a deep breath and feel around for the floor. Then push off of it to come back up."

"Yeah whatever." I muttered. I took a deep breath, then went under the water. Percy pushed me down, and I felt my feet hit the bottom before I pushed myself back up. Percy's hand found my waist as he held me above the water.

For the first time, we actually made progress with the swimming.


	32. AN: Update

**4/27 update: Sorry to disappoint, this is not a new chapter. This is just me, letting you know that I've recently joined Tumblr and Pinterest. You can go check them both out. Follow me, make suggestions and all that. You can message me with anything you want. Ask questions and all that. They're both of the same name on here. I tried to get he link for my Pinterest, but I've got the app on my phone and I'm having difficulty pulling up my page on this browser. Any tips? Lemme know.**

 **Pinterest: fistitout**

 **Tumblr: fist-it-out**

 **Go check me out!**


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